Getting To Know Our 2010 Inductees!

Farley Mowatt – is the great grandnephew of Ontario premier Sir Oliver Mowatt. Born on May 12, 1921 in Belleville, Ontario, Farley grew up in Richmond Hill, Ontario where he attended Richmond Hill High School. His father, Angus Mowat, who fought at the Battle of Vimy Ridge, became a librarian and enjoyed minor success as a novelist. Farley began writing informally while his family lived in Windsor from 1930–1933. At the height of the Great Depression, the family relocated to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. As a boy, Farley was fascinated by nature and animals. With his dog, Mutt (the hero of The Dog Who Wouldn't Be, 1957), Farley explored the Saskatchewan countryside. He also kept a rattlesnake, a gopher, two owls (Owls in the Family 1962), a Florida alligator, several cats, and hundreds of insects as pets. At the age of 13, Mowat founded a nature newsletter, Nature Lore, and had a weekly column on birds in the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. He used the money he gained from his writing to feed ducks and geese, who would have otherwise died because they did not migrate south for the winter. Congratulations to Farley Mowatt! Class of 2010!