Book by late P.E.I. restaurateur John Bil published posthumously

A book by late restaurateurJohn Bil has been published posthumously giving readers a chance to continue to learn from his expertise in the seafood industry.

Bil spent many years on P.E.I., and opened his restaurant, Ship to Shore, in Darnley, P.E.I. He is also known for Honest Weight in Toronto, and helped open Joe Beef in Montreal.

Bildied in January from cancer. But before he died, he completed the manuscript for his book. Ship to Shore: Straight Talk from the Seafood Counter is published by House of Anansi Press, and is on sale Oct.16.

Written during final year of his life

While dealing with terminal cancer, Bilworked for months to complete the manuscript, according to his widow Sheila Flaherty. She says her husbandwas never one to sit still, and was always working on many projects.

"When it became harder for him to work, or to be a part of restaurants, or be distributing seafood, this gave him something unbelievable to sink his teeth into," Flaherty said.

Flaherty says he worked on the bulk of the book during the final year of his life. And he completed the manuscript within weeks of his death.

"It was unbelievably hard to him to do, but the level of focus was, I'll never understand."

'Love affair with P.E.I.'

Bil's friend John Petcoffsays seeing the final product of the book was "very emotional."

Petcoffand Bil became friends while working at Rodney's Oyster House in Toronto in the late 1980s.

Petcoffcame to P.E.I. in 1992, to open a branch of the restaurant in Cavendish, and he says Bilwould come to the Island during the summer for a few weeks to help him.

"And then the third year I was there, he came out at the end of the summer and worked with me for about a month, and then when I went back, he stayed. And that was the beginning of his sort of love affair with P.E.I."

In Bil's book, Petcoffsays the section about oysters is one of the parts of which he is most proud.

Changing how people buy fish

While many people might know what questions to ask a butcher, Flahertydoesn't think the same can always be said of buying fish. She says Bil's book explains issues, such as wild versus farmed fish, in a way that makes sense.

"It's not good or bad, but it's just kind of educating people on what do those terms mean?"

Andshe hopes the book can have an impact on people's outlook on seafood.

"For me one of the biggest things is changing the way people buy fish, and changing the way people look at the industry."

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With files from Laura Chapin