R.I.P. Farley Mowat

[John McGillivray]

Beloved Canadian author Farley Mowat dead at 92

Andrea Janus, CTVNews.ca
Published Wednesday, May 7, 2014 12:42PM EDT
Last Updated Wednesday, May 7, 2014 4:04PM EDT
Beloved author Farley Mowat, who was known as much for his environmental activism as for his vivid literary depictions of the Canadian wilderness, has died. He was 92.
A cause of death was not immediately made public.
Born in Belleville, Ont., and raised in Ontario and Saskatchewan, Mowat became best known for telling stories set against the Canadian wilderness.

His most famous works included “The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be” from 1957, “Owls in the Family” from 1961 and “Never Cry Wolf” from 1963.
“Lost in the Barrens,” published in 1956, won the Governor General’s Award, while “The Boat Who Wouldn’t Float” won the Leacock Medal for Humour in 1970.
Mowat wrote 40 books, which were translated into 52 languages and sold more than 17 million copies worldwide.
Mowat was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1981.
“Farley Mowat was a passionate Canadian who shaped a lot of my generation growing up with his books,” Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau told reporters on Parliament Hill upon hearing the news. “He will be sorely missed.”
Mowat was a family friend who gave the young Trudeau boys a Labrador retriever they named Farley “who had a penchant for running after porcupines,” Trudeau said.
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May was a friend of Mowat’s for more than 30 years and named the author a godfather to her daughter.
“Farley was extraordinarily talented author and writer, as well as, of course, an activist and defender of all wild things,” she told CTV News Channel in a telephone interview from Ottawa.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a statement Wednesday afternoon, extending his “deepest condolences” to Mowat’s friends and family.
“One of Canada’s most widely read authors, he was a natural storyteller with a real gift for sharing personal anecdotes in a witty and endearing way. His literary works almost always reflected his deep love of nature and of animals,” Harper said.

“Mr. Mowat will be remembered as a passionate Canadian. His legacy will live on in the treasure of Canadian literature he leaves behind, which will remain a joy to both new and old fans around the world.”
NDP Leader Tom Mulcair tweeted that Canada “has lost a great Canadian today.
“Farley Mowat’s work as an author and environmentalist has had a great impact on Canada and the world.”
Authors Margaret Atwood and Graeme Gibson issued a statement, saying they are “deeply sorry to hear this sad news.
“Farley was a great and iconic Canadian who understood our environmental problems decades before others did. He loved this country with a passion and threw himself into the fray -- in wartime as well -- also with a passion. He was so good-natured and down to earth. We will miss him very much.”
Publisher Doug Gibson recalled “a small, feisty, kilt-wearing character” who “wore his kilt dangerously.”
“He always enjoyed the odd drink or two or three,” Gibson told CTV News Channel. “He may have been small in stature, but boy he was a great character and a greater writer.”
Mowat ‘passionate for this country’
Mowat was perhaps known as much for his environmental activism as he was for his writing. Literary agent Robert Mackwood said Mowat’s “passion” for the environment dated back to his early writings.
“As somebody who was out there living on the land, living in the environment, that was what was ingrained in him,” Mackwood told CTV News Channel in a telephone interview from B.C. “He was very passionate about this country, very passionate about the land, the seas, the oceans.”
Mowat was recognized “wherever he went,” Mackwood said, and was “just a pleasure to be around.”
“He was someone that people immediately gravitated to, and someone who could tell a story, tell a yarn,” Mackwood said.
Talk radio host John Moore, who interviewed Mowat many times, said the author “lived a life that just does not exist anymore.” Mowat built a shack in the wilderness, grew his own food and visited places that others had not.
Mowat was “an adventurer, a wonderful writer and a great storyteller,” Moore told News Channel.
Mowat was born in Belleville, Ont., on May 12, 1921.
After his family moved to Saskatoon, Mowat was a teenaged bird columnist for the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix.
He served in the Second World War, stationed largely in Italy, an experience that informed a later book, 1979’s “And No Birds Sang.” Upon his return to Canada and enrollment at the University of Toronto, Mowat embarked on a field trip to the north that introduced him to the plight of Canada’s Inuit. That led to his first book, 1952’s “People of the Deer,” the first of many of the “controversial books,” according to Gibson.
“Very early on, he caught on to the fact that, ‘wait a minute, we’re treating the natural world very badly,’” Gibson said.
“He was on to the common plight that we all have, that people are slowly catching up to, that we have to preserve the natural world in order to preserve our inheritance.”
Among his many books was 1984’s “Sea of Slaughter,” which looked at how Canada has treated ocean-dwelling wildlife.
Mowat was “massively discouraged” by what he saw as the failure of human beings to protect the planet and all creatures that live on it, May said.
“Farley was less charitable to humanity than I am,” May said. “He was less willing to say that humanity was playing a positive role on this planet because of the massive destruction and threat to other life forms.”
Mowat also wrote several books about Newfoundland based on the eight years he lived there. Upon leaving Newfoundland, he settled in Port Hope, Ont.
In 2002, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society named its ship RV Farley Mowat in honour of his anti-whaling activism. In 2006, a school named for him opened in an Ottawa suburb.

Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/beloved...#ixzz3143PvD00

[Marc Montgomery]

He also formed ("invented" more realistically) the 1st Canadian Army Museum Collection team- in which he collected lots of German military hardware, including "stealing" a V2 rocket from under the noses of Americans-- Canada was not "allowed" to have a V2.. he welded a conning tower on it. and told authorities it was a special submarine..it ended up in Canada but when Americans found out, they ordered the Cdn govt to hand it over... which they (weak-kneed,kowtowing) did. Still lots of German hardware in our museum was thanks to him

[Jon Skagfeld]

Originally Posted by Marc Montgomery

He also formed ("invented" more realistically) the 1st Canadian Army Museum Collection team- in which he collected lots of German military hardware, including "stealing" a V2 rocket from under the noses of Americans-- Canada was not "allowed" to have a V2.. he welded a conning tower on it. and told authorities it was a special submarine..it ended up in Canada but when Americans found out, they ordered the Cdn govt to hand it over... which they (weak-kneed,kowtowing) did. Still lots of German hardware in our museum was thanks to him

There was a V2 on the CNE grounds ~mid '50s. It was located on a triangular piece of land with the Food Building to the right and the Grandstand to the left. No idea if this was "Mowat's" rocket, or if it was the one which the US complained about.

[Jon Skagfeld]

Mowat also wrote a book "Eastern Passage" which describes a little known fact that an American bomber, in some flight distress, jettisoned an atomic device into the St Lawrence River.

Mowat writes of grotesque malformations of fish and other ecological disasters in the area for years after.

Bet you didn't know about this!

[Marc Montgomery]

Nope, not many would know that... as for the V2 at the CNE...I suspect, but do not know, that it was either a mock-up, or "on loan" . If on loan, by that time I guess the technology was no longer so secret and maybe the Americans werent so concerned about it , and besides it was probably just an empty shell methinks

now lets talk about the Bomarc missiles and whether we ever were- actually- given nuclear warheads- or sandbags and the whole controversy over the Arrow... a WW2 era technology that still surpasses the performance of the F-35

[rob love]

Originally Posted by Marc Montgomery

the Arrow... a WW2 era technology that still surpasses the performance of the F-35

I think the need for some level of patriotism is what causes Canadians make outlandish claims like this. The Arrow was far from being proven, was HUGE, and would not have had the benefits of the computers available to today's craft.

[Jon Skagfeld]

Originally Posted by rob love

I think the need for some level of patriotism is what causes Canadians make outlandish claims like this. The Arrow was far from being proven, was HUGE, and would not have had the benefits of the computers available to today's craft.

To allay any Canadian jingoistic patriotism, here's a direct quote from Jan Zurakowski, during an interview:

"It was a very good plane but nothing special as several other countries were working on almost the same type of plane".

[Marc Montgomery]

not so outlandish, not jingoistic..
it was faster even without the more powerful (Canadian) engine, and could fly higher, although combat range might be less (although different sources give different ranges including some that indicate greater range than F-35)
.However, given the almost 60 year difference, Im sure that a theoretical Arrow Mk-X would have improved range, and the fact that the F-35 for all its modernity..is several years behind schedule and still working out problems.

**as far as not having the benefits of computers available on todays aircraft...what planes in the late 50s had computer control? The Arrow was ahead of its time with near- fly by wire- technology...and given the 60 year gap, it seems fairly evident that later versions would naturally have been fitted with computers..

"the aircraft went supersonic on its third flight and,[49] on the seventh, broke 1,000 mph (1,600 km/h) at 50,000 ft (15,000 m), while climbing and accelerating. A top speed of Mach 1.98 was achieved, however this was not at the limits of its performance. * over 2,100 km/h (some sources say over 2,400 km/h) with much higher potential, vs F35 1,950 km/h

JAN Z speaking= "I will just speak for two minutes and twelve seconds. Time goes too fast for me! I am surprised that already we are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the first flight of the Avro Arrow. I must commend the Aerospace Heritage foundation of Canada, as well as the other organizations that keep the memory of the Avro Arrow as part of Canadian history. Those were the times when Canada stood at the forefront of a niche technology and I am proud that I was part of it.
The first flight of the Arrow was not my success. I carried before and after many more difficult and dangerous flights . It was successful in a more difficult step created by the thousands of, enthusiastic and hardworking men and women.
They were proud of this aircraft and that's why, later the silent cancellation of he Arrow was such a shock to many.
It was my privilege to work with many outstanding people: Jim Floyd, the Chief Designer of the Arrow, Mario Pesando. Excellent boss of the experimental section, Don Rogers, Manager of Test flight And of course my fellow test pilots: Peter Cope, Jack Woodman, Spud Potoki

Spud Potoki was the only test pilot to test all five arrows and he reached the highest speed at 1.98 mach number. I would like to like to point out that already on the seventh flight of the arrow at the altitude of 50,000 feet, I exceeded one thousand miles per hour. After 40 years, this performance is similar to the performance of the CF-18 of the Royal Canadian Air force. By the destructive cancellation, Avro missed its potential, but it still lives in the memory and hearts of Canadians. The success of creating this aircraft remains, and this is the way I would remember it today. Thank you "

Peter Cope Arrow test pilot=-
In a CBC documentary on the Arrow, Peter commented that “it was a phenomenal performing aircraft; our performance boys thought we might get Mach 1.6 out of it yet we flew it to nearly Mach 2. With the Iroquois engine we were talking about a 2.3 or 2.4 Mach number potential. There wasn’t a single plane flying at the time that could come anywhere near to touching that aeroplane. Boy, the day I saw them take the torches to those planes was the nearest I’ve come to shedding a tear over an aeroplane.

"Apart from a landing gear warning light, the flight was without problem. Zurakowski declared that the Arrow was easier to fly than the F-102 or the Gloster Javelin, two other delta-winged fighters. This would later be confirmed by other test pilots, who praised the handling of the CF-105 highly. "

"Jan continued flying on the Arrow until he was 44. Spud then took over most test flights. Jan stated the Arrow handled beautifully."