Newfoundland and Labrador author Harold Horwood passed away today at his home in Nova Scotia.
Horwood was born in St. John's, November 2, 1923. A former union organizer, Horwood became involved in the Confederate movement in Newfoundland during the National Convention (1946-1948). He was elected to the House of Assembly in 1949 but left politics in 1952 to take up writing full time. He penned a column, "Political Notebook" in The Evening Telegram and later served as the paper's editor.
Horwood's first published novel, Tomorrow will be Sunday, is widely regarded as one of the best works of fiction by a local author. He was the author of at least 25 works of fiction and non-fiction. In 1989, Horwood wrote a biography former premier Joe Smallwood and later published a collection of poetry by Gregory Power, another former colleague of Horwood's in both the Confederate movement and the House of Assembly. A walk in the dream time: growing up in old St. John's (1997) was Horwood's memoir of his life growing up in Newfoundland's capitol during the 1930s and 1940s.
One of his last interviews was with Stephanie Porter. As always, Porter's article is fine writing in its own right, capturing the career and character of Horwood in old age.
Horwood was one of the founders of the Writers' Alliance of Canada and served as writer-in-residence at the universities of Western Ontario and Waterloo.