Thomas Graeme Cameron Gibson (9 August 1934 – 18 September 2019) was a Canadian

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...

.Graeme Gibson's
entry in

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available f ...

. He was a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

(1992), a Senior Fellow of

Massey College Massey College is a graduate residential college at the University of Toronto that was established, built and partially endowed in 1962 by the Massey Foundation and officially opened in 1963, though women were not admitted until 1974. It was mo ...

and one of the organizers of the Writers Union of Canada (chair, 1974–75). He was also a founder of the

Writers' Trust of Canada The Writers' Trust of Canada (french: La Société d'encouragement aux écrivains du Canada) is a registered charity which provides financial support to Canadian writers. Founded by Margaret Atwood, Pierre Berton, Graeme Gibson, Margaret Laure ...

, a non-profit literary organization that seeks to encourage Canada's writing community.Graeme Gibson's
entry in

Career

The elder son of

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

Thomas Graeme Gibson, a career Army officer, and radio singer Mary (née Cameron), of Australian origin, Gibson's family frequently moved around during his childhood, going from Halifax to Ottawa to Toronto where he attended

Upper Canada College Upper Canada College (UCC) is an elite, all-boys, private school in Toronto, Ontario, operating under the International Baccalaureate program. The college is widely described as the country's most prestigious preparatory school, and has produce ...

. As an author, Gibson wrote both novels and non-fiction. His first novel, ''Five Legs'' (1969), is widely regarded as a breakthrough in Canadian experimental literature. His other novels include ''Communion'' (1971), ''Gentleman Death'' (1993), and ''Perpetual Motion'' (1982).Graeme Gibson's
entry in

. His non-fiction included ''Eleven Canadian Novelists'' (1973) and more recently, ''The Bedside Book of Birds'' (2005) and ''The Bedside Book of Beasts'' (2009).Graeme Gibson's
entry in

. Gibson was awarded the Toronto Arts Award (1990) the Harbourfront Festival prize in 1993, and he was made a member of the

.Graeme Gibson's
entry in

. An arts, environmental and social justice advocate, Gibson was one of the founders of the

Writers' Union of Canada The Writers' Union of Canada (TWUC), founded in 1973, describes itself as supporting "the country's authors by advocating for their rights, freedoms, and economic well-being." Its members are professional writers who must have published at least o ...

, which recognized his contribution by establishing an award in his honour in 1991. He was involved in the formation of the Writer's Trust of Canada and was a co-founder and president (1987–89) of PEN Canada. He also had a small acting role in the 1983 film '' The Wars''. His environmental advocacy was largely focused around his longtime love of birds. He was a founder and chair of the

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Bird Observatory, served on the Council of the

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, and with Margaret Atwood, as co-chair of Birdlife International's Rare Bird Club. He was a Fellow of the

Royal Canadian Geographical Society The Royal Canadian Geographical Society (RCGS; French: ''Société géographique royale du Canada'') is a Canadian nonprofit educational organization dedicated to imparting a broader knowledge and deeper appreciation of Canada—its people a ...

, which awarded him a Gold Medal in 2015.

Personal life

Gibson was married to publisher Shirley Gibson until the early 1970s, and together they had two sons, Matt and Grae. He began dating novelist and poet Margaret Atwood in 1973. They moved to a semi-derelict farm near

Alliston, Ontario Alliston is a settlement in Simcoe County in the Canadian province of Ontario. It has been part of the Town of New Tecumseth since the 1991 amalgamation of Alliston and nearby villages of Beeton, Tottenham, and the Township of Tecumseth. The p ...

, which they set about doing up and where according to Atwood they were making "attempts at farming, writing and trying to earn enough to live". Their daughter Eleanor Jess Atwood Gibson was born there in 1976. The family returned to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

in 1980. Atwood and Gibson stayed together until his death in 2019. In 2017 Gibson was diagnosed with early signs of

vascular dementia Vascular dementia (VaD) is dementia caused by problems in the supply of blood to the brain, typically a series of minor strokes, leading to worsening cognitive abilities, the decline occurring piecemeal. The term refers to a syndrome consisti ...

. Despite having written a book on birds, he could no longer identify those he liked to watch in his garden, but said "I no longer know their names, but then, they don't know my name either". He died on 18 September 2019 in London, England, where Atwood was promoting her new book, five days after having a big stroke. Atwood later said about his death that it had not been unexpected due to the vascular dementia, had been a good one—and in a good hospital, and his children had time to come and say goodbye—and that he had been "declining and he had wanted to check out before he reached any further stages of that". Following his death, the

renamed its annual fiction award, formerly the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, to the Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize in early 2021."Writers' Trust renames fiction prize after co-founders and couple Atwood and Gibson"

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, January 27, 2021.

Bibliography

*''Five Legs'' (1969) *''Communion'' (1971) *''Eleven Canadian Novelists'' (1973) *''Perpetual Motion'' (1982) *''Gentleman Death'' (1993) *''The Bedside Book of Birds'' (2005) *''The Bedside Book of Beasts'' (2009)

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibson, Graeme 1934 births 2019 deaths 20th-century Canadian male writers 20th-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian novelists Canadian male non-fiction writers Canadian male novelists Canadian nature writers Harbourfront Festival Prize winners Members of the Order of Canada Royal Canadian Geographical Society fellows Deaths from dementia in England Deaths from vascular dementia