Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Good-bye Farley. So Much You Have Given Us


Farley Mowat died this year on May 6. I tried to list all the books I read and came up with seven in all starting with The Dog That Wouldn't Be.  I never met a Mowat book that I didn't like. Every book was a pleasure, rare in authors. I started reading him in the early 1960's: Owls in the Family and The Boat that Wouldn't Float. When I went to Newfoundland, the rugged coast reminded me so much about his life there and his book, The Rock within the Sea. He was a writer who mined his life experiences both in novels and memoir. Like everyone else I saw the movie Never Cry Wolf.  Who can forget the mouse eating scene? Not me. But the book that hit me hardest was his memoir of his experiences in World War II, And No Birds Sang. I have read many war memoirs but this book was the most powerful I have ever read. So long, Farley, it's been good to know you.




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