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The Green Leaf: A Memorial To Grey Owl
As the title says.
Part memoir of him by his friend and publisher Dickson, part defence of him given the immediate posthumous revelations regarding his biography and part extracts from his writings. Illustrated with photos.
Part memoir of him by his friend and publisher Dickson, part defence of him given the immediate posthumous revelations regarding his biography and part extracts from his writings. Illustrated with photos.
122 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1938
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May 3, 2022
Just as the blurb says, but then after all I was the one who wrote it.
Grey Owl (1888-1938) wrote a number of hugely popular books detailing his life in the north of the Canadian forest and his relationship with the natural world especially in relation to the plight of the beaver which was being hunted to extinction for its pelt.
Grey Owl was a trapper himself but after killing a mother beaver for its skin and hearing the cries of its orphaned kittens he returned to lodge and hand-reared them. Doing this made him more conscious of the human animals' interaction with nature and he began to speak out about the inhumane methods of trapping and killing of wildlife and the need for conservation in general. This extended to regard and tolerance for the Native Canadian tribes and the books reflected and amplified these sentiments, their message being essentially one of mutually supportive co-existence and respect for nature in all its forms.
Almost immediately after his death, it was revealed that despite his Native Canadian 'appearance', he was actually an Englishman named Archibald Stansfeld Belaney who had been born in Hastings and had emigrated to Canada at the age 16. He claimed he had become involved with the Ojibwe tribe, learning their language and that the Ojibwe gave him the honorific name Grey Owl, the name he increasing used as time went on.
How much this cultural appropriation by the author bothers you is your business, but to his supporters (such as Dickson who was both a friend and admittedly had a vested interest as he had published his books) the controversy around his life threatened to overshadow his message. Thus the book attempts to redress the balance, the first part of the book utilizing newspaper quotes (the same papers that were stoking the controversy over his life post-mortem) to emphasise how they had previously taken and positively commented upon Grey Owls message.
The remainder of the volume consists of extracts from Grey Owls correspondence with Dickson, quotes from the various books including a list of his precepts all of which makes sense (at least to me) such as "Practise tolerance"; "Your nation, your colour, your family, your religion are not necessarily the best in the world..." and "Remember that animals can suffer acutely and are not put on earth for your dedication to be abused and shot at. They are your fellow dwellers on Earth...". It concludes with a transcript of an intended BBC Children's broadcast (with a strong anti-hunting message) and a selection of photos.
It's a clear and simple message and an easy read- and as an introduction to his philosophy and writings it is very good although you might want to pick out one Grey Owl's other books if you intended to give one to a child as the first section of it would have little relevance to today.
You might wonder why on earth I have commented on this volume given my 'normal' reading. It must certainly be nigh on half a century since I last read Grey Owl, so there is an element of nostalgia in this review. It is also nostalgic in that it is the book I chose (and any book I obtain I read) to remember a dear friend by as it is inscribed by him '[XXXXXXX]. His book and Bible'. It's a good choice and still, after all these years, a good and pertinent read to us all.
Grey Owl (1888-1938) wrote a number of hugely popular books detailing his life in the north of the Canadian forest and his relationship with the natural world especially in relation to the plight of the beaver which was being hunted to extinction for its pelt.
Grey Owl was a trapper himself but after killing a mother beaver for its skin and hearing the cries of its orphaned kittens he returned to lodge and hand-reared them. Doing this made him more conscious of the human animals' interaction with nature and he began to speak out about the inhumane methods of trapping and killing of wildlife and the need for conservation in general. This extended to regard and tolerance for the Native Canadian tribes and the books reflected and amplified these sentiments, their message being essentially one of mutually supportive co-existence and respect for nature in all its forms.
Almost immediately after his death, it was revealed that despite his Native Canadian 'appearance', he was actually an Englishman named Archibald Stansfeld Belaney who had been born in Hastings and had emigrated to Canada at the age 16. He claimed he had become involved with the Ojibwe tribe, learning their language and that the Ojibwe gave him the honorific name Grey Owl, the name he increasing used as time went on.
How much this cultural appropriation by the author bothers you is your business, but to his supporters (such as Dickson who was both a friend and admittedly had a vested interest as he had published his books) the controversy around his life threatened to overshadow his message. Thus the book attempts to redress the balance, the first part of the book utilizing newspaper quotes (the same papers that were stoking the controversy over his life post-mortem) to emphasise how they had previously taken and positively commented upon Grey Owls message.
The remainder of the volume consists of extracts from Grey Owls correspondence with Dickson, quotes from the various books including a list of his precepts all of which makes sense (at least to me) such as "Practise tolerance"; "Your nation, your colour, your family, your religion are not necessarily the best in the world..." and "Remember that animals can suffer acutely and are not put on earth for your dedication to be abused and shot at. They are your fellow dwellers on Earth...". It concludes with a transcript of an intended BBC Children's broadcast (with a strong anti-hunting message) and a selection of photos.
It's a clear and simple message and an easy read- and as an introduction to his philosophy and writings it is very good although you might want to pick out one Grey Owl's other books if you intended to give one to a child as the first section of it would have little relevance to today.
You might wonder why on earth I have commented on this volume given my 'normal' reading. It must certainly be nigh on half a century since I last read Grey Owl, so there is an element of nostalgia in this review. It is also nostalgic in that it is the book I chose (and any book I obtain I read) to remember a dear friend by as it is inscribed by him '[XXXXXXX]. His book and Bible'. It's a good choice and still, after all these years, a good and pertinent read to us all.
Displaying 1 of 1 review