Father Jimmy — Life and Times of Jimmy Tompkins

by Jim Lotz and Michael R. Welton • photos • 176 pages

THE ABRASIVE, COMPASSIONATE, nagging, cranky, inquisitive, generous, and altogether marvelous priest from Margaree. Spiritual father of the Cooperative Movement in Nova Scotia, he remains the inspiration and conscience of a worldwide social movement.
    When Tompkins insisted that the university should serve the average person, his bishop banished him to parish work among Nova Scotia's poorest fishermen. Once over the shock, he encouraged cooperation, self-reliance and adult education. Father of the regional library system and of co-op housing in Nova Scotia, he used the power of his role to get people to make a difference in their own lives.