Canadian author Farley Mowat dies

[Freedom]

My favorite writer during my younger years, Farley Mowat, has died at age 92.

Rest in Peace.

BBC News - Farley Mowat, Canadian author, dies at age 92

Famed Canadian writer Farley Mowat, author of some 40 books, has died at his home in Ontario at the age of 92.

He collapsed on Tuesday in Port Hope. A cause of death has yet to be determined. Mr Mowat was best known for adventure and travel books, including Never Cry Wolf, a fictional narrative of a man living among wolves in the sub-arctic.

He won several prominent awards for his work, including the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee medal.

"Mr Mowat was obviously a passionate Canadian who shaped a lot of my generation, growing up, with his books. He will be sorely missed," Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday.

"So sorry to hear that [Mr Mowat] has died. Wonderful colleague & friend of many years," acclaimed author Margaret Atwood tweeted.

Mr Mowat was born in Belleville, Ontario in 1921. At the age of 18, he enlisted in the army to fight in World War Two.

The lifelong naturalist's first book, People of the Deer, was based on his time with the Inuit people in the Far North.

He was also an outspoken proponent of environmental and social issues, labelling Canada's treatment of aboriginals "abominable" and the country's annual seal hunt "atrocious".

His books were eventually translated into dozens of languages. More than 17 million copies have been sold worldwide.

Some of his books:

The Snow Walker
Virunga: The Passion of Dian Fossey
Sea of Slaughter (his best in my opinion)
A Whale for the Killing
And No Birds Sang
Never Cry Wolf

Several of his books such as The Snow Walker and Never Cry Wolf were made into movies.

[frasd]

My favorite writer during my younger years, Farley Mowat, has died at age 92.

Rest in Peace.

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/farley-mow...173202001.html

TORONTO - Farley Mowat was fondly remembered Wednesday for captivating generations of schoolchildren with books such as "Owls in the Family" and "Never Cry Wolf," and for his legacy as a tireless defender of the environment who "spoke for whales and seabirds, for tadpoles and mosses."

"He was possessed of a ferocious talent, able to write stories that provoked laughter, tears and action," Green Party leader Elizabeth May added in a statement after news broke of Mowat's death at age 92. "We owe him more than I can say."

Mowat died Tuesday night in his hometown of Port Hope, Ont., his assistant Mary Shaw-Rimmington told The Canadian Press.

The author was an "absolutely delightful person" who had "strong opinions that he would fight for to the death if he had to," said friend Stephen Smith, who learned of the death from Mowat's wife, Claire.

"A highly, highly principled man, extremely generous with his time and his wealth. Just a gem, a diamond in the rough," he added. "I think we all felt that it was a real, real privilege to have them as friends, and they were truly good friends."

There was no word on a cause of death, but Smith said a statement would be issued by the family.

"He hadn't been very well, it had been a tough winter, but everybody had a tough winter in southern Ontario," he said. "But it had been particularly tough for him. He wasn't very well. He was quite old. He had various issues, as people in their 90s usually do."

From the time he was 13, Mowat was fiercely dedicated to writing about the natural world. As a young teen he started a magazine called Nature Lore and had a column in the Saskatoon StarPhoenix.

He went on to write some 40 books, many based on his own adventures and travels. He said he was lucky to be able to combine his two passions: writing and nature, calling it "the only subject I really want to write about."

"The literary legacy is enormous," said Smith.

Throughout his life, Mowat was adamant that humans learn to live in harmony with the natural world.

"It's a matter of survival," he told The Canadian Press in a 2006 interview. "Either we learn to do this, or we cease to exist. We have no God-given right to survive forever. We have screwed up so badly in so many ways so obviously that only utterly stupid species would consider that we have much of a future, as things stand."

"Never Cry Wolf," is said to have changed the way people saw wolves; after the Russian version was published, the government there even banned the killings of one of Mowat's favourite creatures.

Some of his books:

The Snow Walker
Virunga: The Passion of Dian Fossey
Sea of Slaughter (his best in my opinion)
A Whale for the Killing
And No Birds Sang
Never Cry Wolf

Several of his books such as The Snow Walker and Never Cry Wolf were made into movies.

Being a Canadian on the opposite end of the country from you, 'Never Cry Wolf' was required reading in school. Had no idea he died. Then again I think I assumed he was already dead so I'm not that depressed. Haven't heard that name in 20 years.

[Freedom]

Never Cry Wolf was possibly Mowat's most popular and influential work. In it, he narrates an account of being left at a remote location in the arctic to study what wolves eat.

Both book and movie use dry humour while following Mowat learning that the popular image of wolves as dangerous, ravenous killers was simplistic.