Farley Mowat, one of Canada's best-known authors and a noted environmentalist, has died at age 92.
Mary Shaw-Rimmington, the author's assistant, confirmed his passing
to CBC News on Wednesday afternoon. Mowat died at his home in Port Hope,
Ont.
Mowat, author of dozens of works including
Lost in the Barrens and
Never Cry Wolf, introduced Canada to readers around the world and shared everything from his time abroad during the Second World War, to his travels in the North and his concern for the deteriorating environment.
More than 17 million copies of his books, which have been translated
into dozens of languages, have been sold worldwide. The gregarious
writer was a consummate storyteller, whose works spanned non-fiction,
children's titles and memoirs.
Describing Mowat as "a passionate Canadian," Prime Minster Stephen
Harper touted the writer as "a natural storyteller with a real gift for
sharing personal anecdotes in a witty and endearing way."
"His legacy will live on in the treasure of Canadian literature he
leaves behind, which will remain a joy to both new and old fans around
the world," Harper said in a statement Wednesday.
Earlier, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau remembered Mowat as "a family
friend from my childhood" who "got along great with my father," former
prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, in comments to reporters in
Ottawa.
- WATCH: Justin Trudeau shares memories of Farley Mowat
He recalled that the writer once gave his family a dog, which they promptly named Farley, in his honour.
"Mr. Mowat was obviously a passionate Canadian who shaped a lot of my
generation, growing up, with his books. He will be sorely missed,"
Trudeau said.
"We have lost a great Canadian today," NDP Leader Tom Mulcair said in
a statement. "Farley Mowat’s work as an author and environmentalist has
had a great impact on Canada and the world."
Fellow Canadian authors Margaret Atwood and Graeme Gibson remembered Mowat as "so good-natured and down to earth."
"Farley was a great and iconic Canadian who understood our
environmental problems decades before others did. He loved this country
with a passion and threw himself into the fray — in wartime as well —
also with a passion," the pair said in a statement.
Controversial writer
Considered among one of the most widely read Canadian authors, the
outspoken Mowat inspired passionate debate and courted controversy.
Though highly praised by his fans, he was also criticized for
exaggerating in his writing and playing loose with facts — for instance,
a devastating 1996 Saturday Night magazine cover story probed the
considerable discrepancies between his original notebooks with his
published works.
Still, Mowat defended himself, stating in the mid-1970s that he
"eschewed the purely factual approach," but was not interested in
writing fiction.
"My métier lay somewhere in between what was then a grey void between fact and fiction," he wrote.
He delivered an even stronger defence during a
1999 Harbourfront International Festival of Authors discussion with
Peter Gzowski, the then CBC host who passed away in 2002.
When Gzowski challenged Mowat about the volume of facts needed in
writing non-fiction, the passionate writer declared: "F--k the facts!"
"Farley was, on the world stage, a giant," Green Party Leader
Elizabeth May declared on Wednesday, emotionally noting that she had
been planning to call him next Monday to wish him a happy 93rd birthday.
She also defended her longtime friend, whom she described as a legendary storyteller who never told a tale that was untrue.
"In telling a non-fiction story, you're allowed to tell a story," she
said, adding that Mowat felt incredibly hurt by the negative Saturday
Night article from the mid-'90s.
"He knew how to tell a story, but he also knew how to tell the truth."
Rabble-rouser, 'kilt-lifter'
The rabble-rousing Mowat was also barred by U.S. immigration
officials from crossing the border for a book tour during the mid-1980s.
He eventually learned it was due to an old security dossier supplied
to the U.S. by Canadian officials and detailed the situation and his
experiences in the book
My Discovery of America. He also
famously said that he was no longer interested in visiting the U.S. and
would only reconsider "if Air Force One arrives at Pearson International
Airport to pick me up."
He continued to vigorously share his strong opinions until the end, including
criticizing the recent plan to bring Wi-Fi service to some of Canada's National Parks.
"Heaven knows he believed in the causes he adopted — and often they
were unfashionable causes like the people of the North or animals or
fish," according to his former publisher Doug Gibson.
"He was feisty, a fiery guy," who might tease about lifting his kilt at parties, Gibson recalled.
"He was small in stature, but a giant when it came to courage and the big issues."
Some of Mowat's writing also made the transition to film, including
A Whale for the Killing (made into a TV movie),
Never Cry Wolf (adapted as a U.S. drama in 1983) and his short story Walk Well, My Brother (which became the 2003 Canadian film
The Snow Walker). He won a Gemini Award in 1991 for his work on the documentary
The New North.
Mowat's survivors include his wife, writer Claire Mowat, and sons Robert and David.
Source By:- http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/farley-mowat-dead-at-92-1.2634772
