Photo: Elisabeth Feryn

Timothy Findley May 23, 1995

"It came as something of a shock, when gathering these stories for collective publication Dinner Along the Amazon (1984)], to discover that for over thirty years of writing my attention has turned again and again to the same unvarying gamut of sounds and images. They not only turn up here in this present book, but in my novels, too. I wish I hadn't noticed this. In fact, it became an embarrassment and I began to wonder if I should file A CATALOGUE OF PERSONAL OBSESSIONS. The sound of screen doors banging; evening lamplight; music held at a distance -- always being played on a gramaphone; letters written on blue-tinted note paper; robins making forays onto summer lawns to murder worms; photographs in cardboard boxes; Colt revolvers hidden in bureau drawers and a chair that is always falling over. What does it mean? Does it mean that here is a writer who is hopelessly uninventive? Appallingly repetitive? Why are the roads always dusty in the man's work -- why is it always so hot -- why can't it RAIN? And my agent was once heard to moan aloud as she was reading through the pages of a television script I had just delivered: "Oh God, Findley -- not more rabbits!" 1

-- Timothy Findley

BIOGRAPHY

Timothy Findley was born in 1930 in the fashionable Rosedale district of Toronto. As a young man, he knew that he wanted to be an artist. Despite his family's misgivings, he began to study dance and later, with considerable success, acting. It was while performing in the London cast of The Matchmaker that he first met the actress Ruth Gordon and the writer Thornton Wilder. Both remained lifelong friends with Findley, and convinced him that his true vocation lay in writing. His first two novels, The Last of the Crazy People (1967) and The Butterfly Plague (1969), were rejected by Canadian publishers and were virtually ignored by the Canadian press. It was only with his third novel, The Wars (1977), that Findley received both recognition as a major Canadian writer and the Governor General's Literary Award. During this early stage of his writing career, Findley also wrote scripts for television, radio and film. His most noteworthy successes came with the television series The Whiteoaks of Jalna and The National Dream; for the latter, he received an ACTRA award for co- writing with his partner, William Whitehead. The Wars was followed by four other popular novels, two collections of short stories and Inside Memory: Pages from a Writer's Workbook (1990), a collection of articles, journal entries, and reminiscences. Findley has also written for the stage: Can You See Me Yet? (1974), John A. -- Himself! (1979), and, more recently, The Stillborn Lover (1993).

The Wars remains his most-discussed book. Based partly on the war-time correspondence of his uncle, Thomas Irving Findley, and on family photos, he wrote the novel in guise of a researcher trying to reconstruct the story of Robert Ross, a soldier of the Great War. The book explores many of the obsessions that colour all his writing: violence, loneliness, a concern for animal rights, and the survival of the individual in a world of madness. Findley believes that a writer has a responsibility to speak out about what is wrong with society. 2

Findley has been very active in the Canadian writing community; he helped to found the Writers' Union of Canada and has served as its chairperson. He has also been President of the Canadian chapter of P.E.N. International.

Findley's work has been widely translated and he has achieved an international reputation. He has received numerous awards and honours in addition to those already mentioned, including the Canadian Authors Association Award, the Order of Ontario, the Ontario Trillium Award, and he has been appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada. The critic Eugene Benson notes that, although Findley has not been prolific, "it can be said of Findley... that he has written only masterpieces." 3

WORKS BY TIMOTHY FINDLEY

NOVELS

• The Last of the Crazy People. -- London : Macdonald, 1967. -- 282 p.

• The Butterfly Plague. -- London : Andre Deutsch, 1969. -- 376 p.

• The Wars. -- Toronto : Clarke, Irwin, 1977. -- 226 p. -- ISBN 0772011885 -- Titre en français: Guerres

• Guerres. -- Traduit par Eric Diacon. -- LaSalle, P.Q. : HMH, 1980. -- 272 p. -- ISBN 2890453294 -- English title: The Wars

• Famous Last Words. -- Toronto : Clarke, Irwin, 1981. -- 396 p. -- ISBN 0772013624 -- Titre en français : Le Grand Elysium Hôtel

• Le Grand Elysium Hôtel. -- Traduit par Bernard Genies. -- Paris : Robert Laffont, 1986. -- ISBN 2221011279 -- English title: Famous Last Words

• Not Wanted on the Voyage. -- Markham, Ont. : Viking, 1986. -- 352 p. -- ISBN 0670803057

• The Telling of Lies. -- Markham, Ont. : Viking, 1986. -- 359 p. -- ISBN 0670812064

• Headhunter. -- Toronto : HarperCollins, 1993. -- 440 p. -- ISBN 0002237458

• The Piano Man's Daughter. -- Toronto: HarperCollins, 1995. -- 461 p. -- ISBN 0002243792

SHORT STORIES

• Dinner Along the Amazon. -- Introd. by Timothy Findley. -- Markham, Ont. : Penguin, 1984. -- ix-xxii, 253 p. -- ISBN 0140073043

• Stones. -- Markham, Ont. : Viking, 1988. -- 221 p. -- ISBN 0670822973

DRAMA

• Can You See Me Yet? -- Introd. by Margaret Laurence. -- Vancouver : Talonbooks, 1977. -- 9-13, 166 p. -- ISBN 0889221197

• The Stillborn Lover. -- Winnipeg : Blizzard, 1993. -- 92 p. -- ISBN 092136833X

FILMS FILMS

• Don't Let the Angels Fall. -- Prod. John Kemeny. -- Dir. George Kaczender. -- National Film Board = Office national du film, 1969. -- 16 mm. ; black and white ; 98 min., 55 sec.

• The Newcomers 1832. -- Prod. Gordon Hinch. -- Dir. John McGreevey. -- Nielson-Ferns, 1978. -- 16 mm.; colour; 59 min. ("Island")

• The Newcomers 1911. -- Prod. Gordon Hinch. -- Dir. Eric Till. -- Nielson-Ferns, 1978. -- 16 mm.; colour; 58 min. ("A Long Hard Walk")

• The Wars. -- Prod. Richard Nielson. -- Dir. Robin Phillips. -- Nielson-Ferns and the National Film Board = Office national du film, 1981. -- 16 mm.; colour; 120 min., 1 sec.

NON-FICTION

• Inside Memory : Pages from a Writer's Workbook. -- Toronto : HarperCollins, 1990. -- 319 p. -- ISBN 0002156970

EDITED WORKS

• Marshall, Joyce. -- Any Time at All and Other Stories. -- Selected and with an afterword by Timothy Findley. -- Toronto : McClelland and Stewart, 1993. -- 219 p. -- ISBN 0771098936

COLLABORATIVE WORKS

• The Newcomers : Inhabiting a New Land. -- A uthors, Timothy Findley et al.; general editor, Charles E. Israel; translation of "The Passage", Sheila Fischman; historical notes, Dennis G. Adair, Janet Rosenstock; captions, John Newlove; photographs, Norm Chamberlain et al.; art direction, Frank Newfeld. -- Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1979. -- 228 p.; coll. ill.; 26 cm. -- ISBN 077100154

• Imaginings : A Synthesis of Fact and Fable. -- Images by Heather Cooper, poetry by Janis Rapoport and prose by Timothy Findley. -- Conceived and designed by Robert Burns to celebrate the inauguration of the Ethos Cultural Development Foundation. -- Toronto: The Foundation, 1982. -- [8] leaves (4 folded); 4 col. ill.; 30 cm.

MANUSCRIPTS

• Timothy Findley's papers have been acquired by the National Archives of Canada, Ottawa. The collection includes manuscripts, correspondence, journals, photographs, drawings, and audiotapes. The most recent acquisition of material was in 1993. The interested researcher should request "Finding Aid No. 1731" for the fonds Timothy Findley. Please note that restrictions on access to some of the materials apply.

MANUSCRITS

• Les documents de Timothy Findley ont été acquis par les Archives nationales du Canada, à Ottawa. La collection comprend des manuscrits, de la correspondance, des revues, des photographies, des dessins et des bandes audio. L'acquisition la plus récente de documents a eu lieu en 1993. Les chercheurs intéressés devraient demander «L'instrument de recherche en 1731» pour le fonds Timothy Findley. Veuillez noter que l'accès à certains documents est restreint.

WORKS ABOUT TIMOTHY FINDLEY

• Pennee, Donna. -- Moral Metafiction : Counter-Discourse in the Novels of Timothy Findley. -- Toronto : ECW Press, 1991. -- 117 p. -- ISBN 1550221388

• Roberts, Carol. -- Timothy Findley : Stories from a Life. -- Toronto : ECW Press, 1994. -- 135 p. -- ISBN 1550221957

• Roberts, Carol; Macdonald, Lynne. -- Timothy Findley : An Annotated Bibliography. -- Toronto : ECW Press, 1990. -- 136 p. -- ISBN 1550221124

• Timothy Findley : Anatomy of a Writer [videocassette]. -- Dir. Terence Macartney-Filgate. -- National Film Board = Office national du film, 1992. -- 57 min., 25 sec.

• York, Lorraine M. -- Front Lines : The Fiction of Timothy Findley. -- Toronto : ECW Press, 1991. -- 147 p. -- ISBN 1550221019

¹Timothy Findley, Introduction, Dinner Along the Amazon. Markham, Ont.: Penguin, 1984), p.ix.
² Carol Roberts and Lynne Macdonald, "Timothy Findley: An Annotated Bibliography (Toronto: ECW Press, 1990), pp. v-vi.
³ Eugene Benson, "Whispers of Chaos': Famous Last Words", World Literature Written in English, Vol. 21, No. 3 (Autumn 1982), p. 600, cited in Roberts and Macdonald, p. 105.