Heather Kirk - Mazo de la Roche

Mazo de la Roche, 18791961.

Heather Kirk

Heather Kirk is a writer and teacher living in Barrie, Ontario. Her writing has been published in many periodicals, including Books in Canada, Canadian Childrens Literature, Canadian Literature, Canadian Woman Studies, Contemporary Verse II, Literary Review of Canada, Quill & Quire, and Wascana Review. Her work has also been broadcast on radio.

Heather Kirk has published two teen novels, Warsaw Spring (2001) and A Drop of Rain (2004), and a rewrite of the classic Canadian novel, Wacousta (2005).

She holds a B.A. from Dalhousie University, an M.A. from the University of Toronto, and an M.A. from York University, where she specialized in Canadian literature. She has taught English at the University of Alberta, the University of Warsaw, Grande Prairie Regional College, and Georgian College.

For more information, visit Heather Kirks website: http://www.heatherkirk.ca.

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Mazo de la Roche

HEATHER KIRK

Mazo de la ROCHE

RICH AND FAMOUS WRITER

Copyright 2006 Heather Kirk and XYZ Publishing.

All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system without the prior written consent of the publisher or, in the case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, a licence from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency is an infringement of the copyright law.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Kirk, Heather, 1949-

Mazo de la Roche: rich and famous writer

(The Quest library ; 27)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-13: 978-1-894852-20-3

ISBN-10:1-894852-20-6

1. De la Roche, Mazo, 18791961. 2. Authors, Canadian (English) 20th century Biography. I. Title. II. Series: Quest library; 27.

PS8507.E43Z74 2006 C813.52 C2006-941159-X

PS9507.E43Z74 2006

Legal Deposit: Third quarter 2006

Library and Archives Canada

Bibliothque et Achives nationales du Qubec

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The publishers further acknowledge the financial support our publishing program receives from The Canada Council for the Arts, the ministre de la Culture et des Communications du Qubec, and the Socit de dveloppement des entreprises culturelles.

Chronology: Clarence Karr

Index: Darcy Dunton

Layout: discript enr.

Cover design: Zirval Design

Cover illustration: Magali Lefranois

Photo research: Heather Kirk

Mazo de la Roche signature: courtesy Kate Barlow

Printed and bound in Canada

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For Clara Thomas,
a pioneer in Canadian literary biography

Contents

Mazo de la Roche and Bunty on the front page of the Toronto Star, April 1927, after winning the $10,0000 Atlantic Monthly-Little, Brown Award.

M azo carried Bunty, the blind, old, black Scottish terrier, down to the little back garden to do her business. The snow had melted and little green shoots were poking out of the cold dark earth. Mazo carried Bunty back up again to the stuffy, rented, third-floor flat. Mazo, Caroline, and Bunty ate their breakfast, then Caroline left for work the way she always did.

While Bunty sat beside the rocking chair and listened, Mazo perched herself again today on the window seat and watched the sidewalk that led to the front door. When the postman came, Mazo ignored Bunty, flew down the stairs, and fetched the mail.

Nothing from the writing competition, Mazo said to Bunty as she returned to the flat. One of the other manuscripts has been chosen, I suppose. Jalna has been thrust aside and forgotten.

Bunty cocked her head.

Finally Mazo fetched the pages she had been working on and sat down in the rocker with the pages resting on a drawing board in her lap. She began to rock.