W. O. Mitchell
William Ormond Mitchell was a Canadian author known for his exploration of themes such as mortality, the human experience, and the journey from childhood innocence to adult understanding. Born in a small prairie town, Mitchell faced personal challenges early in life, including the loss of his father and a battle with tuberculosis, which influenced his writing. He initially pursued a career in medicine but shifted to literature after discovering his passion for drama and creative writing at the University of Manitoba.
Mitchell's debut novel, *Who Has Seen the Wind*, reflects his childhood experiences and philosophical inquiries, capturing the essence of prairie life and the complexities of growing up. He became a prominent figure in Canadian literature, contributing to magazines and creating popular radio scripts that later evolved into short story collections. His later works, including novels like *The Kite* and *The Vanishing Point*, continue to engage with profound themes, often blending humor and pathos, though they received mixed critical reception.
Throughout his career, Mitchell not only published novels and stories but also taught as a writer-in-residence at various universities, influencing a new generation of writers. He was recognized for his contributions to literature with numerous accolades, including the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humor and the Order of Canada. Mitchell's vibrant storytelling and diverse characters resonate with readers, reflecting his deep insights into life and the human condition.
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Subject Terms
W. O. Mitchell
Canadian novelist
- Born: March 13, 1914
- Birthplace: Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Canada
- Died: February 25, 1998
- Place of death: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Biography
William Ormond Mitchell grew up on the edge of the Canadian prairies in a small town of about five thousand inhabitants. His father, the town’s druggist, died suddenly in 1921, when Mitchell was seven years old. This sparked an early preoccupation in the boy with the theme of mortality, a theme that later surfaced in much of his writing. When he was twelve years old Mitchell contracted bovine tuberculosis of the wrist and was advised to move to a warmer climate. The family thereupon moved first to California, then to St. Petersburg, Florida. Here Mitchell attended high school and discovered his interest in drama.
He enrolled at the University of Manitoba in 1931 to study medicine, but his education was interrupted by a recurrence of problems with his wrist. For the next several years Mitchell traveled widely, holding a variety of odd jobs along the way. While working for the Seattle Times, he became active in a local theater, honing skills that later served him well both as a writer and as a public reader of his writings. By 1940 he was back at the university to finish his education. A course in creative writing under F. M. Salter proved especially influential. In fact, Mitchell’s first book, Who Has Seen the Wind, was written partly under Salter’s guidance.
Mitchell married, taught for several years, and at the same time began to get his stories published in such magazines as Maclean’s Magazine and The Atlantic Monthly. After the successful appearance of his first novel, Mitchell moved to Toronto as fiction editor for Maclean’s. Finding himself increasingly involved in radio, television, and journalistic work, he decided to move back to his home in High River, Alberta, to devote more time to writing. He stayed there for seventeen years, raising a family and writing weekly scripts for the popular Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC) radio series Jake and the Kid. In 1961 he turned these scripts into two collections of short fiction, and a year later he published his second novel, The Kite. Writing had become a formidable struggle, however, and in 1968 Mitchell began to teach as writer-in-residence at various Canadian universities. Teaching became a recurrent theme in his writings which, in the succeeding decades, included plays and six more novels.
The quest for the meaning of human existence runs through nearly all of Mitchell’s fiction. It is introduced in Who Has Seen the Wind through Brian O’Connal, a young boy from a prairie town who grows from the innocence of childhood to confusion and conflict and toward the maturity of acceptance, and from ignorance about God, life, death, and nature to a dawning understanding of these things through his growing affinity with the prairie and its permanence. In this work Mitchell maintains a skillful balance between the weightiness of a serious theme and the ambiguous delights of sensitive childhood, between the demands of form and substance.
Rarely did Mitchell manage to exceed or even duplicate his first success. The selection of short stories from the radio series, Jake and the Kid, focus more or less on the moral and imaginative education of the kid, and though often highly entertaining, these stories suffer from excess, sentimentality, and moralism. The same tendencies mar The Kite. Its theme links it to Who Has Seen the Wind, the discovery and acceptance of one’s own mortality, but here Mitchell allowed the focus to wander and didacticism to creep in. David Sherry, the 111-year-old embodiment of the irrepressible life force, though not the intended central character, becomes by far the most interesting and is allowed to dominate the novel. In The Vanishing Point the focus is on Carlyle Sinclair and his journey toward wholeness through his experiences on a Native American reservation and his acceptance of Indian culture. Featuring an extraordinary array of colorful characters and voices, the novel is ambitious and provocative, but some critics have thought that it lacks consistent artistic control.
The 1980’s were a productive time for Mitchell. His most autobiographical novel, How I Spent My Summer Holidays, returns to the world of prairie boyhood and the unfulfilled need for healing among the demoniac that destroy innocence. In Since Daisy Creek and Ladybug, Ladybug . . . , Mitchell shifts to a gentler examination of his themes through older protagonists. Here he shows how the denial of mortality and the preoccupation with self lead to alienation, and that to accept death is to affirm life, both individual and communal. Critical reception of Mitchell’s next works—Roses Are Difficult Here and For Art’s Sake—was generally unfavorable.
Alhough Mitchell’s writing is uneven, his works consistently throb with energy and exuberance. They feature tall tales, strong language and eccentric characters, and always reach for important truths about the nature and the needs of the human spirit. He endeared himself to his readers not only as a writer but also as a charismatic public persona through frequent television appearances and stage readings. Later in life he was honored with the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humor, many honorary degrees, and the Order of Canada.
Bibliography
Harrison, Dick. Intimations of Mortality: W. O. Mitchell’s “Who Has Seen the Wind.” Toronto: ECW Press, 1992. An overview study that provides biography and critical assessment of Mitchell’s novel, along with a select bibliography.
Harrison, Dick. W. O. Mitchell and His Works. Toronto: ECW Press, 1991. A broader study that covers all of Mitchell’s work.
Latham, Sheila, and David Latham, eds. Magic Lies: The Art of W. O. Mitchell. Buffalo, N.Y.: University of Toronto Press, 1997. A collection of seventeen articles, covering Mitchell’s fiction, radio, television, and stage drama, and an interview and a personal recollection.
Mitchell, Barbara, and Ormond Mitchell. W. O., the Life of W. O. Mitchell: The Beginnings to “Who Has Seen the Wind.” Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1999. A biography through 1947.