Author Biography and Secondary Sources

Timothy Findley The Wars

What made me interested in the author was the title of the novel. When I read the title I knew instantly what the book was, and what it was about. My teacher had also told me that the author and book was one of her favourites. 


Timothy Findley is a Canadian-born writer, he was born in Toronto, Ontario on  October 30th, 1930. He passed away at the age of 71, on the 21st of June, 2002. A great comparison I found between the Ross family and the Findley both had owned a farm-machine industry. Findley’s grandfather was the president of the Massey-Harris farm-machine company and the Ross family belonged to the Raymond/Ross company. Findley had written two novels before The Wars, which had both been rejected by Canadian authors. His third novel, The Wars made an astounding publication in 1977 and received the Governor General’s award for fiction and was later adapted for film in 1981. 


Timothy also worked on short stories, dramas and memoirs. 
Other novels by Findley include: 
-The Last of the Crazy People (1967)
-The Butterfly Plague (1969)
-Famous Last Words (1981)
-Not Wanted on the Voyage (1984)
- The Telling of Lies (1986)
-Headhunter (1993)
-You Went Away (1996)
-Pilgrim (1999)
-Spadework(2001)


What I really find fascinating about Timothy Findley is that he is a Canadian-born writer, BORN in Toronto, Ontario!  On the year of his death in 2002, Findley had been added to Canada’s hall of fame, which I find to be an amazing accomplishment that ANY Canadian would love to achieve. 

York, Lorraine. "Civilian Conflict: Systems of Warfare in Timothy Findley." English Studies in Canada XV. 03/09/1989. 336-47. Gale Literary Database. Web. 6 Oct 2011. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/GLD/hits?r=d&origSearch=true&o=DataType&n=10&l=d&c=4&locID=stc23378&secondary=false&u=CLC&t=KW&s=3&NA=Timothy Findley&TI=The Wars.

Williams, David. "A Force of Interruption: The Photography of History in Timothy Findle'ys The WarsFindley." Canadian Literature(Vancouver) 194 00/08/2007. 54. ProQuest Learning: Literature. Web. 6 Oct 2011. http://literature.proquestlearning.com/quick/displayMultiItem.do?Multi=yes&ResultsID=1323F8AE6F6&forAuthor=0&QueryName=criticism&ItemNumber=1.

Hastings, Tom. ""Their fathers did it to them": Findley's appeal to the great war myth of a generational conflict in The Wars." Essays on Canadian Writing. 01 Jul. 1998: 85. eLibrary. Web. 06 Oct. 2011.