A Fiery Soul: The Life and Theatrical Times of John Hirsch, by Fraidie Martz and Andrew Wilson (Vehicule Press) Ahead of next summer's play about its former artistic director at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, brush up on the life of one of the country's greatest artists and nation-builders. An orphan of the Holocaust, Hirsch co-founded the Manitoba Theatre Centre and directed from Stratford to Broadway, before dying of AIDS in 1989. $22 at www.theatrebooks.com
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