Douglas LePan
Douglas LePan (1914-1998) was a Canadian poet, novelist, diplomat, and educator, known for his significant contributions to literature and the arts. Born in Toronto to a military officer, LePan faced early challenges with a stammer and nearsightedness, yet he excelled academically, earning degrees from the University of Toronto and Merton College, Oxford. His literary career began during a lectureship at Harvard, and he served in the military during World War II, which deeply influenced his writings.
LePan's poetry, notably in his collections "The Wounded Prince, and Other Poems" and "The Net and the Sword," explores themes of love, war, and the human experience, frequently employing traditional forms and dense allusions. His acclaimed war novel, "The Deserter," delves into the psyche of soldiers and the moral complexities of warfare. Throughout his career, LePan received numerous accolades, including the Governor General's Award for both poetry and fiction, and the Lorne Pierce Medal, highlighting his exceptional literary achievements.
In addition to his literary work, he served in the Canadian Department of External Affairs, reflecting his dual commitment to public service and the arts. LePan's legacy includes a celebration of imagination and craft, culminating in his recognition as an Officer in the Order of Canada before his passing in 1998. His writings are characterized by elegance and a profound exploration of the human condition.
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Subject Terms
Douglas LePan
Nonfiction Writer and Poet
- Born: May 25, 1914
- Birthplace: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Died: November 27, 1998
- Place of death: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Biography
Douglas Valentine LePan was born on May 25, 1914, in Toronto, his father a military officer. Although hampered by a stammer and nearsightedness, LePan excelled in school: He earned a B.A. in history and literature from the University of Toronto (1935), and a second B.A. from Merton College, Oxford, in 1937. After a three-year lectureship at Harvard, during which LePan first wrote poetry, he joined the military in October, 1941. In addition to a number of prestigious advisory posts, he served eighteen months as a gunner in the Italian campaign. Following the war, he joined the diplomatic service and remained in the Canadian Department of External Affairs as an economic advisor until 1959 when, now a recognized writer, he returned to the university, accepting a teaching position at Queen’s University, Kingston.
LePan’s initial literary recognition came in 1948 with the publication of The Wounded Prince, and Other Poems, a collection of intense, lyric meditations that examined both the devastating experience of love and the rich landscape of his native country. Influenced by T. S. Eliot, whom LePan had met in London during the war, the poems are densely allusive, carefully structured in traditional forms. His 1953 follow-up collection, The Net and the Sword, focused largely on the psychic impact of war, both on individuals caught in the conflict and on civilized nations conducting such brutalities. Passionate, yet tempered by a conservative respect for form, the collection received the Governor General’s Award.
While at Queen’s University, LePan completed an ambitious war novel, The Deserter. Set in a nameless city (clearly London) during the war, the novel draws on the classic myth of the wounded hero (in this case, a soldier who rejects the discipline of the military) seeking redemption through the difficult journey into a symbolic underground (the black market world of the streets) before returning, armed with heroic humility and newfound courage and the deep commitment to the social order he had abandoned. Elaborately symbolic despite its grounding in LePan’s wartime experiences, the novel found critical success. In receiving the 1964 Governor General’s Award, LePan became the only writer to win in both poetry and fiction categories.
Serving with distinction at the University of Toronto until 1980, LePan continued to publish verse. In 1976, LePan was awarded the Lorne Pierce Medal from the Royal Society of Canada, which recognizes outstanding achievement in imaginative literature.
His highly praised memoirs, Bright Glass of Memory, confirmed his status as a renaissance figure: soldier, diplomat, educator, and writer. His poetry in the late 1980’s celebrated the stability of art itself and his last work, the philosophical novella Macalister, tested the tension between free will and the destiny. In his last year, LePan was recognized for a lifetime of service to Canada, named an Officer in the Order of Canada, the nation’s highest civilian honor. He died in Toronto on November 27, 1998. LePan’s poetry, although relatively slender in volume, reflects a discipline of craft and an elegance of expression and endorses the consolations and redemptive energies of the imagination.