Quillblog readers who will be in Toronto on Wednesday, April 29, are cordially invited to attend a party in honour of Q&Q’s late editor, Derek Weiler. The event, which is being generously hosted by Pages Bookstore’s This Is Not a Reading Series, takes place at the Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen Street West, beginning at 8:00 p.m. and going until 1:00 a.m. Admission is free.

More information is available on the event’s Facebook page.

Quillblog hopes to see you there to help remember a truly remarkable man.

[SEE UPDATE AT BOTTOM OF POST]

Dear Quill & Quire readers,

The entire staff of Q&Q is deeply saddened to report that our esteemed editor and friend, Derek Weiler, passed away over the weekend. The family is currently making arrangements and is requesting privacy. The obituary, which will run tomorrow in the Waterloo Region Record, follows. (NOTE: as a result of this tragic news, Q&Q Omni readers may experience an interruption in regular news service over the next few days or so.)

The Staff of Quill

DEREK XAVIER WEILER
1968 – 2009

Derek Xavier Weiler passed away suddenly on Sunday, April 12, 2009 at his home in Toronto at the age of 40.  Derek is survived by his cherished wife and best friend, Sari Morrison; his loving parents, Gerald and Marie Weiler; his sister and brother-in-law Marcy and Kraig Hespeler, and their children, Brynn and Eli. He is also fondly remembered  by his grandfather, Wilfred Weiler; his father and mother-in-law Bob and Sandy Morrison; brother and sister-in-law, Jamie and Jenn Morrison and their children, Robbie and Evelyn. Derek will also be sadly missed by his aunts, uncles, cousins and especially Grandma Mater, his wife’s grandmother. Derek will also be fondly missed by his many friends and colleagues. His maternal grandparents, Marc and Anne Lafleur, and his maternal grandmother, Colette Weiler, predeceased him.

Derek graduated from the University of Waterloo with Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in English Literature, and from Centennial College in Toronto with a Certificate in Magazine and Book Publishing. He was the editor of Quill & Quire, the magazine of the Canadian book trade, and wrote about books for such publications as the Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, Driven and Chatelaine. Arrangements are incomplete and will be published in a later edition of the Waterloo Region Record.

[UPDATE] Visitations will be held on Friday, April 17, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., and on Saturday, April 18, from 10 a.m. to 10:45 a.m., at the Henry Walser Funeral Home in Kitchener, Ontario. The funeral will follow on Saturday at 11 a.m.