Kildare Robert Eric Dobbs (10 October 1923 – 1 April 2013) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

and travel writer. Born in

Meerut Meerut (, ISO 15919, ISO: ''Mēraṭh'') is a city in the western region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Located in the Meerut district, it is northeast of the national capital, New Delhi, and is ...

, Uttar Pradesh, India, he was educated in Ireland and later spent 5 years in the Royal Navy during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war he worked in the British Colonial Service in Tanganyika. Dobbs came to Canada in 1952 and became a teacher, editor for Macmillan of Canada, managing editor of '' Saturday Night'', and book editor of ''The Toronto Star Weekly''. In 2000, he was awarded the

Order of Ontario The Order of Ontario is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the Advice (constitutional), advice of the Executive Council ...

. Dobbs lived in Toronto with his wife, Linda Kooluris Dobbs, a noted portrait artist, painter and photographer. In 2013, shortly before his death at age 89 following a period of ill health, Dobbs received the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

from the Right Honourable David Johnston, at his home in Toronto.Dobbs received Order of Canada
/ref> He was cremated and his remains interred in the family grave in St Mary's (Church of Ireland) churchyard in Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny, Ireland.

Bibliography

*''Running to Paradise'' – 1962 (winner of the 1962 Governor General's Award for Fiction) *''Reading the Time'' – 1968 *''Canada'' 1964 1965 *''The Great Fur Opera'' – 1970 (Dobson/McClelland and Stewart, ) *''Pride and Fall: A Novella and Six Stories'' – 1981 (Clarke, Irwin, ) *''Historic Canada'' – 1984 (Methuen, ) *''Coastal Canada'' – 1985 *''Anatolian Suite: Travels and Discursions in Turkey'' – 1989 (Little, Brown & Co., ) *''Ribbon of Highway: By Bus Along the Trans-Canada'' – 1991 (Little, Brown & Co., ) *''Smiles and Chukkers & Other Vanities'' – 1994 (Little, Brown & Co., ) *''The Eleventh Hour: Poems for the Third Millennium'' – 1997 (Mosaic, ) *''Casablanca: The Poem'' – 1999 (Ekstasis Editions, ) *''Running the Rapids:A Writer's Life'' – 2005 (Dundurn, ) *"Casanova in Venice: A Raunchy Rhyme" with nine original wood engravings by Wesley W. Bates- 2010 (Porcupine's Quill, )

References

* W. H. New, ed. ''Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada''. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2002. 1923 births 2013 deaths Canadian male short story writers Members of the Order of Canada Members of the Order of Ontario Governor General's Award–winning fiction writers Place of death missing 20th-century Canadian short story writers 21st-century Canadian short story writers 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian male writers British people in colonial India British emigrants to Canada British expatriates in Tanganyika (territory) Royal Navy personnel of World War II {{Canada-writer-stub