Apparently Farley also suffered from PTSD upon his return to Canada after the war.
Dave Taylor from QR77 interviewed a Carson someone, I think from Canmore, who had become a friend of Farley Mowat about 7 years ago. This Carson person had sent a draft of some book he authored to Farley, and from there a friendship developed, with Farley inviting Carson, his wife, and young son for a visit.
So they thought, well we can't fly to visit him...have to think of some other mode of transportation so they went across Canada in a canoe, starting in the Bow River in Canmore and ending up in Nova Scotia. The trip took 5 months going to the Hudson Bay etc along the route and visiting a lot of the places Farley had written about.
So when they arrived in Nova Scotia, Farley came to greet them wearing an old ratty MEC rain jacket. They stayed at his place and Carson went into the room where Farley did his writing.
Farley's desk was a door supported by two saw horses. His chair was more duct tape than material. His footstool was a milk crate. He used an old typewriter, drove a 1980 something Ford Ranger.
To get in touch with Farley, you either had to phone him during the noon hour or send a handwritten letter by snail mail.
Fascinating interview...which you could listen to on QR77 archives, about 2:30pm May 7.
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