Timothy Findley
Encyclopedia
Timothy Irving Frederick Findley, OC
, O.Ont
(October 30, 1930 - June 21, 2002) was a Canadian
novel
ist and playwright
. He was also informally known by the nickname Tiff or Tiffy, an acronym of his initials.
, Ontario
, to Allan Gilmour Findley, a stockbroker, and his wife, the former Margaret Maude Bull. His paternal grandfather was president of Massey-Harris, the farm-machinery company. He was raised in the upper class Rosedale
district of the city, attending boarding school at St. Andrew's College
(although leaving during grade 10 for health reasons). He pursued a career in the arts, studying dance and acting, and had significant success as an actor before turning to writing. He was part of the original Stratford Festival
company in the 1950s, acting alongside Alec Guinness
, and appeared in the first production of Thornton Wilder
's The Matchmaker
at the Edinburgh Festival
. He also played Peter Pupkin in Sunshine Sketches
, the CBC Television
adaptation of Stephen Leacock
's Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town
, and had an uncredited (and unconfirmed) minor role in the 1964 television film John Cabot: A Man of the Renaissance.
Though Findley had declared his homosexuality as a teenager, he married actress/photographer Janet Reid (born 1930) in 1959, but the union lasted only three months and was dissolved by divorce or annulment two years later. Eventually he became the domestic partner of writer William Whitehead
, whom he met in 1962, either while working as an arts reporter for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
or while appearing in a theatre production (sources differ). Findley and Whitehead also collaborated on several documentary
projects in the 1970s.
Through Wilder, Findley became a close friend of actress Ruth Gordon
, whose work as a screenwriter and playwright inspired Findley to consider writing as well. After Findley published his first short story in the Tamarack Review
, Gordon encouraged him to pursue writing more actively, and he eventually left acting in the 1960s.
Findley's first two novels, The Last of the Crazy People (1967) and The Butterfly Plague (1969), were originally published in Britain
and the United States
after having been rejected by Canadian publishers. Findley's third novel, The Wars
, was published to great acclaim in 1977 and went on to win the Governor General's Award
for fiction. It was adapted for film in 1981.
Timothy Findley received a Governor General's Award, the Canadian Authors Association Award, an ACTRA
Award, the Order of Ontario
, the Ontario Trillium Award, and in 1985 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada
. He was a founding member and chair of the Writers' Union of Canada
, and a president of the Canadian chapter of PEN International.
His writing, typical of the Southern Ontario Gothic
genre, was heavily influenced by Jungian
psychology, and mental illness
, gender
and sexuality
were frequent recurring themes in his work. His characters often carried dark personal secrets, and were often conflicted — sometimes to the point of psychosis
— by these burdens.
He publicly mentioned his homosexuality, passingly and perhaps for the first time, on a broadcast of the programme The Shulman File in the 1970s, taking flabbergasted host Morton Shulman
completely by surprise. Shulman was a man who did not rattle easily.
Findley and Whitehead resided at Stone Orchard, a farm near Cannington
, Ontario, and in the south of France
. In 1996, Findley was honoured by the French government, who declared him a Chevalier de l'Ordre des arts et des lettres.
Findley was also the author of several dramas for television and stage. Elizabeth Rex
, his most successful play, premiered at the Stratford Festival of Canada
to rave reviews and won a Governor General's award. Shadows, first performed in 2001, was his last completed work. Findley was also an active mentor to a number of young Canadian writers, including Marnie Woodrow
and Elizabeth Ruth
.
In October 2001 when, as writer-in-residence at the University of Calgary, he gave a talk in which he compared oil companies to the terrorists who attacked the World Trade Center the month before. He said the oil companies are doing little to reduce greenhouse gases and they rush to exploit global gas and petroleum reserves. “What’s going to happen in the future if we allow corporate profits to prevail above all other concerns?” Findley asked. “Talk about suicide bombers and all the innocent others who die along with them…. Think about that (corporate profits) and consider the future of our children, our country and our civilization.”
In the final years of Findley's life, declining health led him to move his Canadian residence to Stratford, Ontario, and Stone Orchard was purchased by Canadian dancer Rex Harrington
.
In 2002 he was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame
.
Findley died on June 21, 2002, in Brignoles
, France, not far from his house in Cotignac
.
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
, O.Ont
Order of Ontario
The Order of Ontario is the most prestigious official honour in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier David Peterson, the civilian order is administered by the Governor-in-Council and is intended to...
(October 30, 1930 - June 21, 2002) was a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
ist and playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
. He was also informally known by the nickname Tiff or Tiffy, an acronym of his initials.
Biography
One of three sons, Findley was born in TorontoToronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, to Allan Gilmour Findley, a stockbroker, and his wife, the former Margaret Maude Bull. His paternal grandfather was president of Massey-Harris, the farm-machinery company. He was raised in the upper class Rosedale
Rosedale, Toronto
Rosedale is an affluent neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which was formerly the estate of William Botsford Jarvis, and so named by his wife, granddaughter of William Dummer Powell, for the wild roses that grew there in abundance....
district of the city, attending boarding school at St. Andrew's College
St. Andrew's College (Aurora, Ontario)
St. Andrew's College, also known as SAC, is an independent school founded in 1899 located in Aurora, Ontario, Canada. It is a university-preparatory school for boys in grades 6 to 12, with a focus on academic achievement, athletics, and leadership development...
(although leaving during grade 10 for health reasons). He pursued a career in the arts, studying dance and acting, and had significant success as an actor before turning to writing. He was part of the original Stratford Festival
Stratford Festival of Canada
The Stratford Shakespeare Festival is an internationally recognized annual celebration of theatre running from April to November in the Canadian city of Stratford, Ontario...
company in the 1950s, acting alongside Alec Guinness
Alec Guinness
Sir Alec Guinness, CH, CBE was an English actor. He was featured in several of the Ealing Comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets in which he played eight different characters. He later won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai...
, and appeared in the first production of Thornton Wilder
Thornton Wilder
Thornton Niven Wilder was an American playwright and novelist. He received three Pulitzer Prizes, one for his novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and two for his plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth, and a National Book Award for his novel The Eighth Day.-Early years:Wilder was born in Madison,...
's The Matchmaker
The Matchmaker
The Matchmaker is a play by Thornton Wilder.The play has a long and colorful history. John Oxenford's 1835 one-act farce A Day Well Spent had been extended into a full-length play entitled Einen Jux will er sich machen by Austrian playwright Johann Nestroy in 1842...
at the Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
. He also played Peter Pupkin in Sunshine Sketches
Sunshine Sketches (TV series)
Sunshine Sketches, also known as Addison Spotlight Theatre, is a Canadian dramatic television series which aired on CBC Television from 1952 to 1953. It was the first English-language drama to be broadcast on Canadian television.-Premise:...
, the CBC Television
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
adaptation of Stephen Leacock
Stephen Leacock
Stephen Butler Leacock, FRSC was an English-born Canadian teacher, political scientist, writer, and humorist...
's Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town
Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town
Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town is a sequence of stories by Stephen Leacock, first published in 1912.It is generally considered to be one of the most enduring classics of Canadian humorous literature....
, and had an uncredited (and unconfirmed) minor role in the 1964 television film John Cabot: A Man of the Renaissance.
Though Findley had declared his homosexuality as a teenager, he married actress/photographer Janet Reid (born 1930) in 1959, but the union lasted only three months and was dissolved by divorce or annulment two years later. Eventually he became the domestic partner of writer William Whitehead
William Whitehead (Canadian writer)
William Frederick Whitehead is a Canadian writer, actor and filmmaker. He was the partner of the late Canadian writer Timothy Findley, with whom he co-wrote several works including the television documentaries Dieppe 1942 and The National Dream: Building the Impossible Railway.He studied biology...
, whom he met in 1962, either while working as an arts reporter for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
or while appearing in a theatre production (sources differ). Findley and Whitehead also collaborated on several documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
projects in the 1970s.
Through Wilder, Findley became a close friend of actress Ruth Gordon
Ruth Gordon
Ruth Gordon Jones , better known as Ruth Gordon, was an American actress and writer. She was perhaps best known for her film roles such as Minnie Castevet, Rosemary's overly solicitous neighbor in Rosemary's Baby, as the eccentric Maude in Harold and Maude and as the mother of Orville Boggs in the...
, whose work as a screenwriter and playwright inspired Findley to consider writing as well. After Findley published his first short story in the Tamarack Review
Tamarack Review
The Tamarack Review was a Canadian literary magazine, published from 1956 to 1982. Established and edited by Robert Weaver, other figures associated with the magazine's editorial staff included Anne Wilkinson, William Toye and John Robert Colombo....
, Gordon encouraged him to pursue writing more actively, and he eventually left acting in the 1960s.
Findley's first two novels, The Last of the Crazy People (1967) and The Butterfly Plague (1969), were originally published in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
after having been rejected by Canadian publishers. Findley's third novel, The Wars
The Wars
The Wars is a 1977 novel by Timothy Findley telling the story of a young Canadian officer in World War I. First published by Clarke Irwin, it won the Governor General's Award for fiction in 1977.-Plot overview:...
, was published to great acclaim in 1977 and went on to win the Governor General's Award
Governor General's Award
The Governor General's Awards are a collection of awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, marking distinction in a number of academic, artistic and social fields. The first was conceived in 1937 by Lord Tweedsmuir, a prolific author of fiction and non-fiction who created the Governor...
for fiction. It was adapted for film in 1981.
Timothy Findley received a Governor General's Award, the Canadian Authors Association Award, an ACTRA
ACTRA
The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists is a Canadian labour union representing performers in English-language media. It has 22,000 members working in film, television, radio, and all other recorded media....
Award, the Order of Ontario
Order of Ontario
The Order of Ontario is the most prestigious official honour in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier David Peterson, the civilian order is administered by the Governor-in-Council and is intended to...
, the Ontario Trillium Award, and in 1985 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
. He was a founding member and chair of the Writers' Union of Canada
Writers' Union of Canada
The Writers' Union of Canada , founded in 1973, describes itself as supporting "the country's authors by advocating for their rights, freedoms, and economic well-being." Its members are professional writers who must have published at least one book through a commercial publisher.The Union addresses...
, and a president of the Canadian chapter of PEN International.
His writing, typical of the Southern Ontario Gothic
Southern Ontario Gothic
Southern Ontario Gothic is a sub-genre of the Gothic novel genre and a feature of Canadian literature that comes from Southern Ontario. The term was first used in Graeme Gibson's Eleven Canadian Novelists to recognize an existing tendency to apply aspects of the Gothic novel to writing based in...
genre, was heavily influenced by Jungian
Carl Jung
Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and the founder of Analytical Psychology. Jung is considered the first modern psychiatrist to view the human psyche as "by nature religious" and make it the focus of exploration. Jung is one of the best known researchers in the field of dream analysis and...
psychology, and mental illness
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
, gender
Gender identity
A gender identity is the way in which an individual self-identifies with a gender category, for example, as being either a man or a woman, or in some cases being neither, which can be distinct from biological sex. Basic gender identity is usually formed by age three and is extremely difficult to...
and sexuality
Human sexuality
Human sexuality is the awareness of gender differences, and the capacity to have erotic experiences and responses. Human sexuality can also be described as the way someone is sexually attracted to another person whether it is to opposite sexes , to the same sex , to either sexes , or not being...
were frequent recurring themes in his work. His characters often carried dark personal secrets, and were often conflicted — sometimes to the point of psychosis
Psychosis
Psychosis means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality"...
— by these burdens.
He publicly mentioned his homosexuality, passingly and perhaps for the first time, on a broadcast of the programme The Shulman File in the 1970s, taking flabbergasted host Morton Shulman
Morton Shulman
Morton Shulman, OC was a Canadian politician, businessman, broadcaster, columnist, coroner, and physician.-Biography:...
completely by surprise. Shulman was a man who did not rattle easily.
Findley and Whitehead resided at Stone Orchard, a farm near Cannington
Cannington, Ontario
Cannington is a community located in Brock Township, Durham Region, Ontario, Canada.-History:Originally part of the original Brock Township, Cannington was first settled in 1833. It was originally known as McCaskill's Mills after a local mill-owning family...
, Ontario, and in the south of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. In 1996, Findley was honoured by the French government, who declared him a Chevalier de l'Ordre des arts et des lettres.
Findley was also the author of several dramas for television and stage. Elizabeth Rex
Elizabeth Rex
Elizabeth Rex is a play by Timothy Findley.The plot involves a meeting between Queen Elizabeth I and an actor from Shakespeare's troupe who specializes in playing women's parts...
, his most successful play, premiered at the Stratford Festival of Canada
Stratford Festival of Canada
The Stratford Shakespeare Festival is an internationally recognized annual celebration of theatre running from April to November in the Canadian city of Stratford, Ontario...
to rave reviews and won a Governor General's award. Shadows, first performed in 2001, was his last completed work. Findley was also an active mentor to a number of young Canadian writers, including Marnie Woodrow
Marnie Woodrow
Marnie Woodrow is a Canadian writer and editor. She has also worked as a researcher/writer for TV and radio.Woodrow has published two short fiction collections, Why We Close Our Eyes When We Kiss in 1991 and In the Spice House in 1996, and the novel Spelling Mississippi in 2002...
and Elizabeth Ruth
Elizabeth Ruth
Elizabeth Ruth is a Canadian novelist.Ruth was born in Windsor, Ontario, was raised by a single mother, and lived in the United States, Canada, and Colombia while growing up. Ruth earned an Honours BA and an MA from the University of Toronto.Before becoming a published writer, she worked in social...
.
In October 2001 when, as writer-in-residence at the University of Calgary, he gave a talk in which he compared oil companies to the terrorists who attacked the World Trade Center the month before. He said the oil companies are doing little to reduce greenhouse gases and they rush to exploit global gas and petroleum reserves. “What’s going to happen in the future if we allow corporate profits to prevail above all other concerns?” Findley asked. “Talk about suicide bombers and all the innocent others who die along with them…. Think about that (corporate profits) and consider the future of our children, our country and our civilization.”
In the final years of Findley's life, declining health led him to move his Canadian residence to Stratford, Ontario, and Stone Orchard was purchased by Canadian dancer Rex Harrington
Rex Harrington
Rex Howard Harrington, OC, FRSC is a Canadian ballet dancer. In 2000, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 2005, he was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame. In 2006, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by York University and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada...
.
In 2002 he was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame
Canada's Walk of Fame
Canada's Walk of Fame , located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is a walk of fame that acknowledges the achievements and accomplishments of successful Canadians...
.
Findley died on June 21, 2002, in Brignoles
Brignoles
Brignoles is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.It was the summer residence of the counts of Provence...
, France, not far from his house in Cotignac
Cotignac
Cotignac is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France....
.
Novels
- The Last of the Crazy PeopleThe Last of the Crazy PeopleThe Last of the Crazy People is the first novel of Canadian author Timothy Findley. It was published in 1967, in Britain, and later on in Canada, and was one of the first novels ever to be labelled as Southern Ontario Gothic....
(1967) - The Butterfly Plague (1969)
- The WarsThe WarsThe Wars is a 1977 novel by Timothy Findley telling the story of a young Canadian officer in World War I. First published by Clarke Irwin, it won the Governor General's Award for fiction in 1977.-Plot overview:...
(1977) (translated into French as Guerres) - Famous Last WordsFamous Last Words (novel)Famous Last Words is a 1981 novel by Canadian author Timothy Findley, in which Hugh Selwyn Mauberley is the main character....
(1981) (translated into French as Le Grand Elysium Hôtel) - Not Wanted on the VoyageNot Wanted on the VoyageNot Wanted on the Voyage is a novel by Canadian author Timothy Findley, which presents a magic realist post-modern re-telling of the Great Flood in the biblical Book of Genesis. It was first published by Viking Canada in the autumn of 1984.-Plot summary:...
(1984) - The Telling of Lies (1986) (Edgar AwardEdgar AwardThe Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...
, Best Paperback Original, 1989) - Headhunter (1993)
- The Piano Man's DaughterThe Piano Man's DaughterThe Piano Man's Daughter is a novel by Timothy Findley, first published in 1995 by HarperCollins Canada. It was a nominee for the 1995 Giller Prize....
(1995) - Pilgrim (1999)
- SpadeworkSpadeworkSpadework is a novel by Canadian writer Timothy Findley set in the theater world of Stratford, Ontario. It was first published in Canada by HarperCollins Publishers in 2001.-Plot introduction:...
(2001)
Short stories
- Dinner Along the AmazonDinner Along the AmazonDinner Along the Amazon is a book of short stories by Timothy Findley. It was first published by Penguin Canada in 1984The title story was adapted into a short film in 1996, which starred Arsinée Khanjian, Dan Lett, Claire Rankin and Peter Outerbridge....
(1984) - StonesStones (book)Stones is the second book of short stories by Timothy Findley. It was first published by Viking Canada in 1988.The first two stories, Bragg and Minna and A Gift of Mercy both detail the marriage of a homosexual man named Bragg and his Wife Minna...
(1988) - Dust to Dust (1997)
Drama
- Don't Let the Angels FallDon't Let the Angels FallDon't Let the Angels Fall is a 1969 Canadian drama film directed by George Kaczender. It was entered into the 1969 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Arthur Hill - Robert* Sharon Acker - Barbara* Charmion King - Myrna* Jonathan Michaelson - Guy...
(1969) - The Whiteoaks of JalnaThe Whiteoaks of JalnaThe Whiteoaks of Jalna was a 1972 Canadian television drama miniseries, based on the novel by Mazo de la Roche. At CAD 2 million, it set a record expense at the time for a Canadian television miniseries. The series was exported internationally including the United Kingdom and France...
(1972) - The NewcomersThe Newcomers (TV miniseries)The Newcomers was a series of seven hour-long Canadian television specials that aired from 1977 to 1980 on CBC Television. The series was sponsored by Imperial Oil to mark the company's 100th anniversary in 1980....
(1977) - Can You See Me Yet? (1977)
- The Stillborn Lover (1993)
- The Trials of Ezra Pound (2000)
- Elizabeth RexElizabeth RexElizabeth Rex is a play by Timothy Findley.The plot involves a meeting between Queen Elizabeth I and an actor from Shakespeare's troupe who specializes in playing women's parts...
(2001) - Shadows (2001)
Memoirs
- Inside Memory: Pages from a Writer's Workbook (1990)
- From Stone OrchardFrom Stone OrchardFrom Stone Orchard is a memoir by Timothy Findley, published in 1998.The book, which includes some articles Findley had originally written for Harrowsmith magazine, is a memoir of Findley's life at Stone Orchard, the farm near Cannington, Ontario where he lived with his partner William Whitehead....
(1998) - Journeyman: Travels of a WriterJourneyman: Travels of a WriterJourneyman: Travels of a Writer is a 2004 book by Timothy Findley. The book, compiled by Findley's partner William Whitehead, is a posthumous collection of journal entries, letters, poems, speeches and newspaper and magazine articles written by Findley....
(2004)