Edgar Allardyce Wood (2 June 1907 — 25 July 1998), known by his pen name Kerry Wood, was a Canadian writer, journalist and scriptwriter. During his writing career, Wood primarily wrote for

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

radio and television while publishing his own works. For his novels, Wood won the 1955 Governor General's Award for English-language juvenile fiction for ''The Map-Maker'' and rewon the Governor General's Award in 1957 for ''The Great Chief''. Outside of writing, Wood built archery equipment from the 1920s to 1970s and was named 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 Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with ...

in 1990.

Early life

On 2 June 1907, Wood was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. During his childhood, Wood lived in various parts of

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada� ...

before residing in

Red Deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of wes ...

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 ...

at the age of eleven. When he was sixteen, Wood began to write after a teacher encouraged him to leave high school and focus on writing.

Career

Wood began his career in 1924 as a

freelancer ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

before becoming a newspaper columnist in 1926. As a journalist, Wood wrote for various newspapers throughout

, including the ''

Edmonton Journal The ''Edmonton Journal'' is a daily newspaper in Edmonton, Alberta. It is part of the Postmedia Network. History The ''Journal'' was founded in 1903 by three local businessmen — John Macpherson, Arthur Moore and J.W. Cunningham — as ...

'' and ''

Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The ...

'' from 1926 to 1973. During this time period, Wood started building archery equipment in 1937 and was hired by the

in 1939. With the CBC, Wood primarily wrote scripts for radio shows until 1973, while venturing into television script writing from 1958 to 1965. Outside of journalism, Wood wrote children's novels between the 1930s and 1980s before releasing his autobiography ''A Legacy of Laughter'' in 1986. Wood continued to write until the 1990s when his final book ''This Smiling Land'' was published in 1996. For his influences, Wood cited the works of multiple writers including

Henry David Thoreau Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817May 6, 1862) was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. A leading Transcendentalism, transcendentalist, he is best known for his book ''Walden'', a reflection upon simple living in natural su ...

and

Percy A. Taverner Percy Algernon Taverner (June 10, 1875 – May 9, 1947) was a Canadian ornithologist and architect. https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v065n01/p0085-p0106.pdf He was born Percy Algernon Fowler in Guelph, Ontario in 1875. When h ...

Awards and honours

As a writer, Wood won the Governor General's Award for English-language juvenile fiction twice for ''The Map-Maker'' in 1955 and ''The Great Chief'' in 1957. Wood received the

Vicky Metcalf Award The Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People, colloquially called the Vicky, is given annually at the Writers' Trust Awards to a writer or illustrator whose body of work has been "inspirational to Canadian youth". It is a top honour for ...

in 1963 from the

Canadian Authors Association The Canadian Authors Association is Canada's oldest association for writers and authors. The organization has published several periodicals, organized local chapters and events for Canadian writers, and sponsors writing awards, including the Gover ...

. In 1990, Wood was named a

. Posthumously, Wood was named one of the 100 Outstanding Albertans by the

Calgary Stampede The Calgary Stampede is an annual rodeo, exhibition, and festival held every July in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The ten-day event, which bills itself as "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth", attracts over one million visitors per year and featu ...

in 2012.

Personal life

Wood was married and had three children. Wood died in Red Deer on 25 July 1998.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Kerry 1907 births 1998 deaths Canadian newspaper reporters and correspondents Canadian Broadcasting Corporation people Governor General's Award-winning children's writers Members of the Order of Canada 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian male writers Canadian male novelists American emigrants to Canada