Sherrill Grace - Tiff

ADVANCE PRAISE FOR TIFF: A LIFE OF TIMOTHY FINDLEY

A meticulously researched deep dive into a troubled and fascinating lifepassionate, engaged, often messy, vastly rewarding.

MARGARET ATWOOD

Superb... Written with great sensitivity and attention to detail, Graces comprehensive biography succeeds in giving a complete picture of its subject as an individual and an artist.

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Timothy Findley was a brilliant novelist, but over time I was privileged to know the man behind the novels. Despite a writers need for solitude, he was extraordinarily generous with his time and insight, and had a true talent for friendship and mentorship, qualities that shine through in this remarkable biography. Sherrill Grace never allows her meticulous research to overshadow the story of an extraordinarily engrossing, multi-faceted life.

SYLVIA TYSON, SINGER/SONGWRITER, AUTHOR OF JOYNERS DREAM

A tactful, sensitive, generous, storyteller, Sherrill Grace recounts the life of one of Canadas greatest storytellers, illuminating his life and work, the people he knew and the cultural times in which he performed that life so passionately. We follow him as he learns his craft through writing and through living that intense, well-examined, if often tormented, life. At once learned and elegant, this immensely readable biography is a glorious summing up of all the themes of his work and life.

LINDA HUTCHEON, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO, AUTHOR OF THE CANADIAN POSTMODERN

Timothy Findley was a writer who arrived at his vocation by way of the stage, a storyteller who shifted from the speaking of others words to the crafting of his own. In Tiff Sherrill Grace brings thoughtful attention to both the man and the work, the latter of which notably marked the national literature by its particular obsessions and inventions.

ANDREW PYPER, AUTHOR OF THE DEMONOLOGIST AND THE HOMECOMING

What a spectacular achievement! In an ecstasy of exploration, to use Sherrill Graces lovely description of Findleys dogs criss-crossing a frozen river, one of Canadas leading critics has created a definitive biography (there can never be only one) of a giant in Canadian literature. We are what we keep is the mantra informing her exhaustive attention to the details that shape and reflect the turbulent life of Timothy Findley or Tiff, as he was generally known. Sherrill Grace illuminates the private personal past that Findleys fiction transforms into an urgent and unforgettable presence.

JOHN MOSS, AUTHOR OF A READERS GUIDE TO THE CANADIAN NOVEL

Sherrill Graces meticulously researched biography accesses Tiffs extensive personal diaries and dozens of interviews to reveal the stories behind the Timothy Findley we thought we knew. One of Canadas most perceptive literary scholars, Grace explores the genesis of Findleys writing, provides astute analyses of all his fiction, and an illuminating, long overdue reassessment of Findleys acting and playwriting. She traces his personal and artistic friendships with some of the giants of twentieth-century culture, from Margaret Atwood to Sir Alec Guinness, and unpacks the complex family history that inspired the work and troubled the man. A powerful, eye-opening portrait of the artist as an anguished man who tried desperately to live by his motto: Against despair.

JERRY WASSERMAN, EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH AND THEATRE, UBC, EDITOR OF MODERN CANADIAN PLAYS

Memory and remembering, central to Timothy Findleys life and work, are equally so to Sherrill Graces outstanding biography of this celebrated Canadian author. Drawing impressively and insightfully on a vast archive of letters, photos, journals, diaries, and interviews, and on her own towering talents as one of Canadas foremost literary scholars, Grace presents a compelling portrait of a complex man and brilliant multi-faceted writerhimself a master of auto/biography.

CHRISTL VERDUYN, MOUNT ALLISON UNIVERSITY, AUTHOR OF LIFELINES: MARIAN ENGELS WRITINGS

Wilfrid Laurier University Press acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts for our publishing program. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada. This work was supported by the Research Support Fund.

LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION

Title: Tiff : a life of Timothy Findley / Sherrill Grace.
Names: Grace, Sherrill, 1944 author.
Description: Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20200165690 | Canadiana (ebook) 20200165704 | ISBN 9781771124539 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781771124553 (EPUB) | ISBN 9781771124560 (PDF)

Subjects: LCSH: Findley, Timothy. | CSH: Authors, Canadian (English)20th centuryBiography | LCGFT: Biographies.

Classification: LCC PS8511.I38 Z64 2020 | DDC C813/.54dc23

Front cover photo Elisabeth Feryn. Frontispiece: A relaxed Timothy Findley at Stone Orchard, 1984. Photograph reproduced with permission of Elisabeth Feryn, who recalls the photo shoot on a lovely, warm summer afternoon; while we were shooting, Findley would tell me about the book he was writing, tell stories about the farm animals, and quiz me about my life. He was such a warm and empathetic soul. Cover and interior design by Lime Design.

2020 Wilfrid Laurier University Press
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
www.wlupress.wlu.ca

This book is printed on FSC certified paper. It contains recycled materials and other controlled sources, is processed chlorine free, and is manufactured using biogas energy.

Printed in Canada

Every reasonable effort has been made to acquire permission for copyright material used in this text, and to acknowledge all such indebtedness accurately. Any errors and omissions called to the publishers attention will be corrected in future printings.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written consent of the publisher or a licence from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright). For an Access Copyright licence, visit http://www.accesscopyright.ca or call toll free to 1-800-893-5777.

In Memory of Bill Whitehead (19312018),
who made so much possible

I KNOW THAT HUMAN IMAGINATION CAN SAVE US; SAVE THE HUMAN RACE AND SAVE ALL THE REST OF WHAT IS ALIVE AND SAVE THIS PLACETHE EARTHTHAT IS ITSELF ALIVE.IMAGINATION IS OUR GREATEST GIFT.
(Timothy Findley, Inside Memory 314)

One
THE LANDSCAPE OF MEMORY1870 TO 1949

Two
THE CANADIAN PROTEGE1950 TO 1962

Three
CAN YOU SEE ME NOW?1962 TO 1989

Four
STILL PAYING ATTENTION1990 TO 2002