Looking for The Life and Work of Dr. Alister MacKenzie

[Ian Andrew]

I'm looking for The Life and Work of Dr. Alister MacKenzie. Yes - I know there are a couple of copies on Amazon but they won't ship to Canada and also the price is pretty steep.

I'm sending this out to see if any of you have an extra copy or one they are willing to part with.

I have almost all the books that I have ever wanted, and have ordered some more this week, but this is one that I don't, and that I always wanted.

p.s. The Captain is the other but I figure that's even harder to come by.

[Bill_McBride]

I ordered two copies and had one sent to a genial host in the UK.  He loved it as he's associated with a Mackenzie course.  The other copy didn't arrive and they've been out of stock ever since.

McBride's rule:  No good deed goes unpunished. 

[Chip Gaskins]

Ian-

I have been looking for this book for years.  I saw one used one over the summer on Amazon for $123 and before I could buy it someone else did.  Luckily that same person turned around and listed it on eBay where I also bid and lost on a last second bid at $174.  Now there are two on Amazon for $499.  Too steep for me.  WH Smith in the UK "says" they have it though I have emailed them to verify and they came back and said no.  I also bought it on some other random book website that said they had a copy only to be emailed a few weeks later and said they really didn't. 

There is a copy right down the street from me at the Library of Congress   Other than that I have been unsuccessful in locating one either.  That is the last book I really really want for my collection.

Good luck,
Chip

[Bob Jenkins]

Ian,

I just ordered and received 4 books from Amazon.ca as opposed to Amazon.com and they arrived pretty quickly from Ontario. A friend told me he had ordered some stuff through the Canadian site and Amazon US sent it to their distribution centre in Toronto and on to him.

I just got Tom D's Anatomy of a Golf Course, Geoff S's "Alister MacKenzie's Cypress Point" the World Golf Atlas and another. I give them to my wife and tell her to give them to me at Christmas. Looking forward to it.

[Sébastien Dhaussy]

Ian,

Check your personal message box.

[Tom Huckaby]

Ian - it's a pretty cool book, but it's just gathering dust on my shelf.  If Sebastien can't get it to you, let me know.  Happy to send you my copy.

TH

[Pete_Pittock]

Barnes & Noble (out of print) has one copy of The Captain,  and five Anatomy of a Golf Course

[Jeff_Mingay]

Ian,

I have a copy here, at home. If you return my copy of Paul Daley's Golf Architecture, A Worldwide Perspective, I'll lend it to you 

[Ian Andrew]

Thank you all

I now have a copy of The Captain ordered - now just one book to go.

Bob,

I just ordered 12 books in the last two days. I made a list of what I'm missing and began to order the books I really wanted. I expect to have lots of time to read come this winter.

Ian

[Neil_Crafter]

Ian
The only copy I could find on Abebooks was a whopping $895 !!!!
This is getting into Confidential Guide territory now. When I write my book I'll have to get Tom to do the Foreword in the hope that some of this rubs off onto the future value of it. Then I'll keep back 50 copies as my retirement plan!

Sounds like one of your clients finally paid that outstanding invoice. 12 in 2 days must be some sort of a record.

[Ian Andrew]

Your much closer to the truth than you think

Neil, I really look forward to your book if Lake Merced is any indication, it will be terrific.

Regards,

Ian

[Andrew Mitchell]

Ian

A fellow GCAer was kind enough to lend me his copy of the MacKenzie book at Buda 2007. A read through it convinced me to buy my own copy but my search so far has been in vain.  It carries a similar premium to the Confidential Guide but is much more elusive.

I shall carry on my search in the hope that the current financial difficulties which drive down prices in the second hand book market!

[Neil_Crafter]

Ian
The book, if it eventuates, will be a collaborative thing with a few other people contributing. Still in the research/information gathering stage, but my vision is for it to be a detailed listing of all his known courses, new and remodels, as well as those where he gave a report or did a scheme and nothing happened such as Dana Point. Each course will have from half a page to 3 or 4 pages depending upon the information we have and the course's relative importance. Solely historical focus, with old plans, period photos etc etc. A long way to go before this project sees a printing press.

And my guess seemed on the money, so to speak!
Neil

[JMorgan]

Ian, ditto your requests, Mack and Captain.  A few years ago, I ordered the one copy of Mack left on Amazon at one point (at least that's what the little caption told me), and then Amazon reneged on it after a week or so.

Tom D, do you know if Wiley is planning to do another print run of the book?

[Jeff_Mingay]

Sounds like an interesting idea for a book, Neil; particularly if it's loaded with sketches and other historic images. Good luck putting it all together.

I'd like to see a similar book done on Stanley Thompson. His biographer, Jim Barclay, admits his Thompson book is lacking in this department -- details about his architecture in general and specific details about his golf course designs.

[Neil_Crafter]

Jeff
I hope it will be a good idea!
The problem as I see it with books like DSH's Life and Work of Mackenzie and TTT by Barclay is that they endeavour to be a biography and a discussion of that architect's courses all rolled into one. I know its hard to separate out the architecture from the man, but I reckon there will be interest in a book that focusses exclusively on his courses. Perhaps you and Ian are the men for the Stanley Thompson version of what I am working on for Mackenzie?
cheers Neil

[Jeff_Mingay]

You're probably right, Neil. Ian and I are certainly fine candidates (along with invaluable assistance from a bunch of Thompson fanatics we know up here, in Canada) to put such a book together. It's only a matter of finding the time to put it all together... while continuing with our "day jobs".

Sadly, considering the Canadian winter and the current state of the global economy, we may have some time on our hands soon 

Let's hope not, though.