http://www.bookswelove.com/donaldson-yarmey-joan/
Saskatchewan
William Ormond (W.O.) Mitchell was born on March 13, 1914 in Weyburn
Saskatchewan. His father died when he was seven and he contracted bovine
tuberculosis of his wrist when he was twelve. The disease is
contagious and it is spread by contact between infected domestic animals, such
as cattle, and humans. It can be
spread through inhaling infected droplets from coughing or by contact with a
wound. He had to withdraw from school and spent his time wandering the
open prairie around the town. Through this he became attuned to the beauty,
vibrancy, and energy of the land. This would play a major role in this later
writing.
In an effort to cure his TB his family spent the winters from 1927 to
1931 in California and later Florida. They returned to their cottage on White
Bear Lake in Saskatchewan each summer. W.O. majored in philosophy at the
University of Manitoba, studied journalism and play writing at the University
of Washington in Seattle, then spent four years working odd jobs in Alberta. He
got his teaching certificate through the University of Alberta and married Merna
Hirtle in 1942. He also had two short stories published in Maclean’s and
Queen’s Quarterly that same year.
Mitchell spent the next couple of years as a principal in small town
schools then he and his wife moved to High River, just south of Calgary, where
he began freelance writing. His first novel Who Has Seen the Wind was published
in 1947 and was loosely based on his father’s death. It has been called one of
the best Canadian books ever written.
William moved to Toronto in 1948 and became the fiction editor at
Maclean’s. He also began writing his radio series Jake and the Kid for CBC. The
series, which ran from 1950 to 1956 had over two hundred episodes and was about
a fatherless boy, his mother, and a hired hand who lived on a farm in Saskatchewan.
Mitchell adapted the story into a CBC television series in 1961. He also had
two very successful plays, The Devil’s Instrument (1962) and Back to Beulah
(1974) televised on CBC. Throughout the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s he wrote many
plays that were featured in theatres throughout Saskatchewan.
By the time the Mitchells moved to Calgary in 1968, W.O. was one of the
most recognized authors in Canada. He held readings and book signings across
the country. Besides his radio, television and stage plays Mitchell wrote a
total of nine books. He spent much of his time putting on workshops for
aspiring and established writers. He founded and ran the creative writing
program at the Banff Centre from 1974 to 1986.
William received nine honorary degrees, two Stephen Leacock Awards for
humour, a Lifetime Award for Excellence in the Arts from the Saskatchewan Arts
Board, became an officer of the Order of Canada, and was named to the Queen’s
Privy Council.
W.O. Mitchell died in Calgary on February
25, 1998. He is remembered as the author who put the Saskatchewan prairie on
the literary map of Canada.
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