By Pepper Parr
April 26th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
There aren’t that many of them around any more. But, Burlington happens to have one of the best independent bookstores in the country
A Different Drummer has a very proud history and has been known for doing things differently from the day it first opened in 1970.
The store was founded in 1970 by Al Cummings and John Richardson. The name was inspired by the Henry David Thoreau quote, “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.” It follows, then, that independent thinking became a guiding principle of the store, which stocks small press and university press titles alongside bestsellers. “We hear from customers that they are finding books here that they are not finding elsewhere,” said Ian Elliot the current owner.
The Different Drummer as it exists today.
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