Brian Fawcett (May 13, 1944 – February 27, 2022) was a Canadian writer and cultural analyst. He was awarded the Pearson Writers' Trust Non-Fiction Prize in 2003 for his book ''Virtual Clearcut, or The Way Things Are in My Hometown''. He was also nominated for the

Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence The Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence is administered by the BC Book Prizes and recognizes a writer who has contributed significantly to the development of literary excellence in British Columbia, as well as having written a substa ...

in 2012 for ''Human Happiness''.

Early life

Fawcett was born in

Prince George, British Columbia Prince George is the largest city in northern British Columbia, Canada, with a population of 74,004 in the metropolitan area. It is often called the province's "northern capital" or sometimes the "spruce capital" because it is the hub city for ...

, on May 13, 1944. His father, Hartley, was a

soft drink A soft drink (see § Terminology for other names) is a drink that usually contains water (often carbonated), a sweetener, and a natural and/or artificial flavoring. The sweetener may be a sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice, a su ...

salesman in

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

who moved to Prince George during the late 1930s to establish his own company; his mother was Rita Surry. Fawcett initially went to Connaught Junior High School in his hometown, before attending Prince George Senior High School. After working in the forest service for three years, he relocated to

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

at the age of 22 to study at the newly-formed

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located from ...

(SFU). There, he was taught by

R. Murray Schafer Raymond Murray Schafer (18 July 1933 – 14 August 2021) was a Canadian composer, writer, music educator, and environmentalist perhaps best known for his World Soundscape Project, concern for acoustic ecology, and his book ''The Tuning of th ...

and

Robin Blaser Robin Francis Blaser (May 18, 1925 – May 7, 2009) was an author and poet in both the United States and Canada. Personal background Born in Denver, Colorado, Blaser grew up in Idaho, and came to Berkeley, California, in 1944. There he met Jack ...

, who influenced his writings. Fawcett graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in 1969 and was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow for the 1969–1970 academic year. Before becoming a full-time writer, he worked as an urban planner and community organizer in

Metro Vancouver The Metro Vancouver Regional District (MVRD), or simply Metro Vancouver, is a Canadian political subdivision and corporate entity representing the metropolitan area of Greater Vancouver, designated by provincial legislation as one of the 28 ...

until 1985. He also taught English to inmates in

Matsqui Institution Matsqui Institution is a federal medium-security prison facility in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada, about 70 kilometres east of Vancouver. The Institution is operated by the Correctional Service of Canada and was opened in 1966. Accommodatio ...

Career

Fawcett established a small magazine at SFU named NMFG (an

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

for "No Money From Government"). He utilized the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Gordon Lockhead to edit the periodical, which was issued from February 1976 until September 1978. He authored seven books of poetry during this time. He later published his first collection of short stories in 1982, titled ''My Career with the Leafs and Other Stories'', in which he recounted childhood memories of growing up in Prince George. Fawcett ultimately published over 20 books of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. One of these works, '' Cambodia: A Book for People Who Find Television Too Slow'' (1986), which gave an account of the

Khmer Rouge The Khmer Rouge (; ; km, ខ្មែរក្រហម, ; ) is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) and by extension to the regime through which the CPK ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. ...

and the

Cambodian genocide The Cambodian genocide ( km, របបប្រល័យពូជសាសន៍នៅកម្ពុជា) was the systematic persecution and killing of Cambodians by the Khmer Rouge under the leadership of Communist Party of Kampuchea genera ...

, received recognition across Canada. In another collection of short stories titled ''Capital Tales'' (1984), he delved into violence and a variety of storytelling techniques. ''The Secret Journal of Alexander Mackenzie'', released one year later, analyzed the misuse of the remote areas of

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

in a fictional setting, as well as recognizing the "

global village Global village describes the phenomenon of the entire world becoming more interconnected as the result of the propagation of media technologies throughout the world. The term was coined by Canadian media theorist Marshall McLuhan in his books ' ...

" invasion from a psychological and economic perspective. Fawcett also authored a column in ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' focusing on political and cultural affairs. After residing in Vancouver for around a quarter of a century, he relocated 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 ancho ...

and co-founded the website www.dooneyscafe.com in 2001, together with

Stan Persky Stan Persky (born 19 January 1941) is a Canadian writer, media commentator and philosophy instructor. Early life Persky was born in Chicago, Illinois. As a teenager, he made contact with and received encouragement from Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsb ...

. Named after a restaurant on Toronto's

Bloor Street West Bloor Street is a major east–west residential and commercial thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Bloor Street runs from the Prince Edward Viaduct, which spans the Don River Valley, westward into Mississauga where it ends at Central Parkw ...

, the site is described as "a news service" and to which he was a regular contributor. He also taught cultural literacy in maximum security prisons. His book ''Virtual Clearcut: Or, the Way Things Are in My Hometown'' won the Pearson Writers' Trust Non-Fiction Prize in 2003, with Fawcett receiving C$15,000 as a result. ''Human Happiness'' was published in 2012 and was nominated for the

. Fawcett released his final major book the following year, titled ''The Last of the Lumbermen''. It detailed a celebrated hockey team in Prince George during the 1950s and 1960s, and became one of his most eminent works. Fawcett was working on two books at the time of his death in 2022, which are scheduled to be published posthumously.

Personal life

Fawcett married his first wife,

Sharon Thesen Sharon Thesen (born 1946 in Tisdale, Saskatchewan) is a Canadian poet who lives in Lake Country, British Columbia. She teaches at University of British Columbia Okanagan. In 2003, Thesen was a judge for the Griffin Poetry Prize. Selected works ...

, in October 1966. They were high school sweethearts and later studied at SFU together. Together, they had one child, Jesse. They separated in 1972, and eventually divorced. After moving to Toronto, Fawcett married Leanna Crouch, who was a producer of ''

Imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...

''. Together, they had one daughter, Hartlea. He was later in a

domestic partnership A domestic partnership is a legal relationship, usually between couples, who live together and share a common domestic life, but are not married (to each other or to anyone else). People in domestic partnerships receive benefits that guarantee r ...

with Fran Piccaluga until his death. He had another child, Max. Fawcett died on February 27, 2022, in Toronto, at age 77, after suffering from

idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), or (formerly) fibrosing alveolitis, is a rare, progressive illness of the respiratory system, characterized by the thickening and stiffening of lung tissue, associated with the formation of scar tissue. It is ...

for four years.

Bibliography

Fiction

*''The Opening: Prince George, Finally'' (1974) *''My Career with the Leafs and Other Stories'' (1982) *''Capital Tales'' (1984) *''The Secret Journal of Alexander Mackenzie'' (1985) *'' Cambodia: A Book for People Who Find Television Too Slow'' (1986) *''Public Eye: An Investigation Into the Disappearance of the World'' (1990) *''Gender Wars: A Novel and Some Conversation About Sex and Gender'' (1994) *''The Last of the Lumbermen'' (2013) *''A Blue Spruce Christmas'' (2010)

Poetry

*''Five Books of a Northmanual'' (1971) *''Friends'' (1971) *''Permanent Relationships'' (1975) *''The Second Life'' (1976) *''Creatures of State'' (1977) *''Tristram's Book'' (1981) *''Aggressive Transport'' (1982)

Non-fiction

*''Unusual Circumstances, Interesting Times and Other Impolite Interventions'' (1991) *''The Compact Garden: Discovering the Pleasures of Planting in a Small Space'' (1992) *''The Disbeliever's Dictionary: A Completely Disrespectful Lexicon of Canada Today'' (1997) *''Virtual Clearcut, or The Way Things Are in My Hometown'' (2003) *''Local Matters: A Defence of Dooney's Café and other Non-Globalized Places, People, and Ideas'' (2003) *''Human Happiness'' (2011)

Notes

References

External links

www.dooneyscafe.com

Brian Fawcett fonds (1996.2) at Northern BC Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fawcett, Brian 1944 births 2022 deaths Canadian male novelists Canadian male poets Writers from British Columbia Writers from Toronto People from Prince George, British Columbia 20th-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian male writers 20th-century Canadian poets 20th-century Canadian male writers Deaths from pulmonary fibrosis Simon Fraser University alumni