Alistair MacLeod remembered as great writer, gifted academic

Canadian author Alistair MacLeod is shown in an undated handout photo. (Provided / Ted Rhodes)

TORONTO -- The Canadian literary world is remembering Alistair MacLeod as not only a great writer but also an amiable person and gifted academic who inspired generations of students and scribes.

News of the Saskatchewan native's death came Sunday, with former publisher Doug Gibson noting the 77-year-old had been in a Windsor, Ont., hospital since suffering a stroke in January.

"Very sorry to hear about Alistair MacLeod, a wonderful writer and a fine person," author Margaret Atwood said in a statement issued by publisher McClelland and Stewart on Monday.

"It's a great loss for Canadians, and for Alistair's many readers and many friends."

MacLeod was an acclaimed short story writer who won the prestigious International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award for his only novel, "No Great Mischief," in 2001. The novel also won several other honours, including the Trillium Book Award.

His other published works include the 1976 short story collection "The Lost Salt Gift of Blood" as well as 1986's "As Birds Bring Forth the Sun and Other Stories" and 2000's "Island."

"His magnificently crafted stories and his only novel contain a compassion and beauty of language, and a deep wisdom and universal truth that are rare," said Ellen Seligman, publisher of McClelland and Stewart, and vice president of Random House of Canada.

"His passing is a tremendous loss to Canada and to literature, but his work will endure."

Born in July 20, 1936 in North Battleford, Sask., MacLeod moved with his family to Cape Breton Island when he was 10 and worked as a logger, a miner and a fisherman to make money for his education.

He received his PhD in 1968 from the University of Notre Dame and taught English at Indiana University before accepting a post at the University of Windsor, where he taught English and creative writing for more than three decades.

MacLeod was considered by colleagues and students to be a "beloved family member" and "a truly gracious and generous-spirited gentleman," said Carol Davison, the head (on sabbatical) of the Department of English Language, Literature & Creative Writing at the University of Windsor.

"Anyone who ever met and spoke with Alistair, especially those who worked with or were taught by him, simply cannot imagine a world without him," she said in a statement. "In that humble but powerful humanity that he shared with each of us through his words and his life, we were brought to our knees.

"He was not only an unforgettable artist, he was an unforgettable man because he was truly in touch with his humanity."

Author Guy Vanderhaeghe echoed those thoughts.

"Alistair MacLeod was one of this country's finest, most splendid writers, but he may have been an ever finer, more splendid, wise and gentle man. There was a very real goodness and integrity about Alistair that is as uncommon and unique as his vision of what literature should be and ought to do."

MacLeod lived in Windsor, Ont., but spent his summers near Inverness County on Cape Breton Island, where he set many of his stories and where his publisher says he wrote "in a clifftop cabin looking west towards Prince Edward Island."

In an interview with The Canadian Press in October 2013, the genial wordsmith recalled seeing "an awful lot" of soldiers in Cape Breton as a child.

Such memories helped inspire his short story "Remembrance," which McClelland and Stewart published as an ebook last November.

The story featured a Second World War veteran recalling his time in the army on Remembrance Day in Cape Breton.

MacLeod's son Alexander is also a writer whose debut short story collection, "Light Lifting," was a Scotiabank Giller Prize finalist in 2010.

He called his son "a great writer" and took no credit for his success.

"Everybody says, 'Oh, you must have had a big influence on him,' but I didn't, not consciously," said MacLeod. "I never stood over his shoulders."

MacLeod's other honours included being named an Officer of the Order of Canada. He also received the PEN/Malamud Award for Short Fiction.

"There was a deepness of caring in Alistair MacLeod; in his life, and in his work, and a profound sense of emotional truth," said author Jane Urquhart. "His writing moved from his heart to the page, and will always leap back from the page and into the heart of the reader.

"His words are comforting in the face of loss because he explored sorrow with both tenderness and brutality. We'll all need to read him now."

MacLeod is survived by his wife, Anita, as well as their six children and several grandchildren.

"Our thoughts are with Mr. MacLeod's friends and family during this difficult time," said Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil.

"Alistair MacLeod brought the island and people of Cape Breton to the rest of the world through his stories. His novels and writings will continue to be read for generations to come."