Farley Mowat was born to an eccentric family who encouraged his love for the natural world. His was an innocent childhood, spent largely in the company of owls, dogs, squirrels, snakes and other wildlife, and he chronicled it stunningly in an array of books that include Owls in the Family, The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be and Born Naked.
Mowat enlisted in the army at 18 and served in WWII, an experience that gave birth to And No Birds Sang, at once a compassionate portrait of the endurance of the Canadian soldier and one of the most searing anti-war books ever written.
He came home after the war, his faith in humanity shattered, unable and unwilling to fit back into post-war life. Desperate, he embarked on a scientific collecting expedition to the Barren Grounds in what is now Nunavut. It was there that he found his purpose, first with the wolves and then with the Ihalmiut, the Barren Ground Inuit. Out of these experiences came his first forays into activism as he tried to secure aid for the starving Inuit, and as he tried to change how the world looked at wolves. People of the Deer, The Desperate People, and Never Cry Wolf changed how Canadians see the North.
Mowat went on to create an incredible body of work including Sea of Slaughter, A Whale for the Killing, Grey Seas Under, Lost in the Barrens, Virunga: The Life of Dian Fossey (that became the movie Gorillas in the Mist), and many more. He used his writing to speak to deep truths about humanity’s responsibility for the planet and the species we share it with. In doing so, he became one of the pioneers of the environmental movement.
In all, Farley has a body of work of over 40 books, encompassing fiction, non-fiction and young adult. These have been translated into over 50 languages and have sold millions of copies worldwide. Their popularity belies their careful artistry and stunning style.
