Stewart Brothers

An Alberta Family Business History

by: Stewart Ford

From the age of twelve, Stewart worked in—and then later inherited—a family business that operated for more than 100 years. During retirement, he began to collect, document, and archive the business’ history.

To capture the story of the business for future generations, Stewart envisioned a high-quality, hardcover book. He wanted to include more than 200 supporting images—photographs, news clippings, ledger pages, and product advertisements.

Stewart wrote a 40,000-word draft, then our editor took over to structure and organize a story that flowed well. We collaborated on a design that incorporated a running timeline, photographs throughout, and an Appendix of additional supporting images. After several rounds of copy editing and proofreading, cover design and layout, we ushered Stewart through the process of printing and online distribution setup. We also provided graphic design for a special bookmark and materials to advertise a book launch hosted by a museum in the author’s region.

What began as an idea to leave behind stories for grandchildren became a beautiful, high-quality legacy.