James Sinclair Ross, CM (January 22, 1908 – February 29, 1996) was a Canadian banker and author, who wrote novels and short fiction about life on the

Canadian Prairies The Canadian Prairies (usually referred to as simply the Prairies in Canada) is a region in Western Canada. It includes the Canadian portion of the Great Plains and the Prairie Provinces, namely Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. These pro ...

. He is best known for his first novel, ''

As For Me and My House ''As For Me and My House'' is a novel by Canadian author Sinclair Ross, first published in 1941 by the American company Reynal and Hitchcock, with little fanfare. Its 1957 Canadian re-issue, by McClelland & Stewart, as part of their New Canadia ...

''.

Life and career

Ross was born on a homestead near

Shellbrook, Saskatchewan Shellbrook is a rural community in Saskatchewan, Canada located west of Prince Albert. The population of the town was 1,433 in 2011. Highways 3, 40, and 55 provide access to the community. Approximately 50 businesses provide a wide range of ...

. When he was seven, his parents separated, and he lived with his mother on a number of different farms during his childhood, going to school in

Indian Head Indian Head can refer to: Coins * Indian Head cent, U.S. one cent coin (1859–1909) *Indian Head eagle, U.S. $10 gold piece issued between 1907 and 1933 * Indian Head gold pieces, U.S. coins issued between 1908 and 1929 *Indian Head nickel, U.S. ...

, Saskatchewan. He left school after Grade 11 and in 1924 he joined the

Union Bank of Canada The Union Bank of Canada was a Canadian chartered bank which operated 1865–1925, primarily in the Canadian Prairies. Governance The order of bank presidents was Charles Levy, Andrew Thomson, John Sharples, John Galt, and W.R. Allan. Earlier ...

, which became part of the

Royal Bank of Canada Royal Bank of Canada (RBC; french: Banque royale du Canada) is a Canadian multinational financial services company and the largest bank in Canada by market capitalization. The bank serves over 17 million clients and has more than 89,000& ...

a year later. At first he worked in a number of small towns in Saskatchewan, then moved to

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Win ...

in 1933 where he wrote and published his most famous novel ''As For Me and My House''. In 1946 he moved to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...

after spending four years in the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command (military formation), command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases acr ...

during World War II. He remained with the Royal Bank until his retirement in 1968, after which he spent some time in Spain and Greece before moving to a nursing home in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

, where he lived until his death. ''As For Me and My House,'' set in an isolated town on the Prairies during the Great Depression, was published in 1941. At first not much noticed, it went on to become a Canadian literary classic and set the precedent for the genre of Canadian prairie fiction. He wrote three more novels during his lifetime, as well as a few anthologies of short stories, none of which became as well known as his first novel. He is known to have destroyed manuscripts of novels that his publisher rejected, including a sequel to ''Sawbones Memorial''. His short story "The Painted Door" was adapted by

Atlantis Films Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. (commonly known as Alliance Atlantis and commonly shortened to simply Alliance or Atlantis and formerly traded as TSX:AAC) was a Canadian media company that operated primarily as a specialty service operato ...

as the short film ''

The Painted Door ''The Painted Door'' is a Canadian short drama film, directed by Bruce Pittman and released in 1984. Based on a short story by Sinclair Ross, the film was produced by the National Film Board of Canada and Atlantis Films of Toronto.Rick Groen, "Sho ...

'', which was an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment in ...

nominee for

Best Live Action Short Film The Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film is an award presented at the annual Academy Awards ceremony. The award has existed, under various names, since 1957. From 1936 until 1956 there were two separate awards, "Best Short Subject, One- ...

at the

57th Academy Awards The 57th Academy Awards were presented March 25, 1985, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles. Jack Lemmon presided over the ceremonies. This ceremony marked the first time that multiple black nominees would win an Oscar, when Prince an ...

in 1985. A monument in his honour has been erected in Indian Head by Saskatchewan artists and readers, with a bronze statue sculpted by

Joe Fafard Joseph Fafard (September 2, 1942 – March 16, 2019) was a Canadian sculptor. Biography Joseph Fafard was a twelfth generation Canadian born in 1942 in Ste. Marthe, Saskatchewan, to French Canadians Leopold Fafard and Julienne Cantin. Fafard is ...

. In 1992, he was made 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 c ...

. He died in 1996, having had

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

, and was buried in Indian Head. The year after his death his

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...

became public knowledge for the first time, as a result of

Keath Fraser Keath Fraser (born 25 December 1944) is a Canadian fiction author. He lived in London from 1970 to 1973, where he studied at the University of London and earned his PhD He later taught English in Calgary, Alberta, Canada for five years as a tenu ...

's biography ''As For Me and My Body: A Memoir of Sinclair Ross'' (1997).

Bibliography

Novels

*''

'' (1941) *''

The Well The Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link, normally shortened to The WELL, was launched in 1985. It is one of the oldest continuously operating virtual communities. By 1993 it had 7,000 members, a staff of 12, and gross annual income of $2 million. ...

'' (1958) *'' Whir of Gold'' (1970) *''

Sawbones Memorial Sawbones may refer to: * Sawbones, slang for a surgeon * Sawbones, an artificial bone developed by Pacific Research Laboratories Pacific Research Laboratories, Inc. (PRL) is a design, research and development (R&D) and prototype manufacturing co ...

'' (1974)

Short stories

* ''The Lamp at Noon and other stories.''

Queen's Quarterly ''Queen's Quarterly'' is a Canadian quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal of cultural studies that was established in 1893 by, among others, George Munro Grant, Sanford Fleming, and John Watson, all of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario.< ...

, 1938; reed. 1968; reed.

McClelland and Stewart McClelland & Stewart Limited is a Canadian publishing company. It is owned by Penguin Random House of Canada, a branch of Penguin Random House, the international book publishing division of German media giant Bertelsmann. History It was found ...

, 1988; reed.

Penguin Modern Classics Penguin Classics is an imprint of Penguin Books under which classic works of literature are published in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Korean among other languages. Literary critics see books in this series as important members of the W ...

, 2018 ** "One's a Heifer" ** "The Painted Door" *** in German: ''Die frisch gestrichene Tür,'' in ''Kanada erzählt''. Transl. Walter E. Riedel. Fischer Taschenbuch 10930, Francfort 1992, pp. 9–32 ** "The Lamp at Noon".one story
/ref> *** in German: ''Die Lampe am Mittag,'' in ''Kanadische Erzähler der Gegenwart.'' Transl. Walter E. Riedel. Manesse, Zurich 1986, pp. 339–358; and in ''Die weite Reise. Kanadische Erzählungen und Kurzgeschichten.'' Transl. Karl Heinrich. Volk und Welt, Berlin 1974, pp. 103–117 ** "Cornet At Night" (In 1963 the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

produced a 15-minute film based on this story.) ** "A Field of Wheat" ** "A Day with Pegasus" ** "Nell" ** "The Outlaw"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Sinclair 1908 births 1996 deaths Canadian bankers Canadian military personnel of World War II Canadian male novelists Deaths from Parkinson's disease Canadian gay writers Members of the Order of Canada People with Parkinson's disease Writers from Saskatchewan Royal Bank of Canada people Canadian LGBT novelists 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian male writers Writers from Winnipeg Neurological disease deaths in British Columbia 20th-century LGBT people Gay novelists