Ted Russell (June 27, 1904 – October 16, 1977) was a

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

writer, teacher, and politician.

Biography

The son of Edward Russell and Sarah Jane Kelly, he was born in Coley's Point,

Conception Bay Conception Bay (CB) is a bay on the southeast coast of Newfoundland, Canada. The population (in 2011) of people living in municipalities (or unincorporated census subdivisions) located along the coast of Conception Bay was 90,490 making it on ...

Colony of Newfoundland Newfoundland Colony was an English and, later, British colony established in 1610 on the island of Newfoundland off the Atlantic coast of Canada, in what is now the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. That followed decades of sporadic English ...

. Russell was educated there and at

Bishop Feild College Bishop Feild College (originally Church of England Academy; formerly Church of England College and Bishop Feild Elementary; currently Bishop Feild School), founded in 1844, is a school in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John's, Newfou ...

. He started work as a

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

immediately after completing

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

at the age of 16. After teaching in several small Newfoundland communities during the 1920s and 1930s, interspersed with stints at Memorial University College, he became a

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

. In 1943 he became head of the government division responsible for promoting co-operatives throughout Newfoundland. After 1949, when

joined

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, Russell entered politics and served for two years in Joey Smallwood's cabinet as Minister of Natural Resources, but, opposing Smallwood's industrial policies, resigned from cabinet and left politics shortly thereafter. For several years he worked as an insurance salesman, later returning to teaching at the high school and then at

Memorial University of Newfoundland Memorial University of Newfoundland, also known as Memorial University or MUN (), is a public university in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, based in St. John's, with satellite campuses in Corner Brook, elsewhere in Newfoundland and ...

. Despite having done little previous creative writing, from 1954 to 1961, Russell wrote and narrated (on CBC Radio) stories set in a fictional Newfoundland outport, Pigeon Inlet, using the persona of "Uncle Mose". These stories featured a colourful cast of characters and were told from a generally positive and optimistic, yet realistic, point of view. Many featured tall tales, but some were based on Russell's own experiences in rural Newfoundland. In addition to providing entertainment, these stories commented on issues of the day and also provided practical information to a population just beginning to deal with a profound change in its system of government. Two volumes of these stories were published in the 1970s, and three more in the 1980s. Russell is also the author of several radio plays, the most successful of which was ''The Holdin' Ground'', which was adapted into a television play and continues to air irregularly on Newfoundland television station

NTV NTV may refer to: Television * NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh * NTV (India), Telugu regional channel * NTV (Kenya) * NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia * NTV (Newport Televis ...

as part of its "Captain Atlantis"

anthology series An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a differ ...

. Two albums were released after his death. Both were made up of stories taken from his CBC Radio programs. The Chronicles Of Uncle Mose - 1979 Uncle Mose From Pigeon Inlet - 1981 In 2011, he was designated a "Person of Provincial Significance".

Personal life

Russell and his wife Dora (Oake), whom he married in 1935, had five children, among them Elizabeth Miller, a scholar and academic famous for her work on

Bram Stoker Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is celebrated for his 1897 Gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and busine ...

Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taking ...

and

Vlad the Impaler Vlad III, commonly known as Vlad the Impaler ( ro, Vlad Țepeș ) or Vlad Dracula (; ro, Vlad Drăculea ; 1428/311476/77), was Voivode of Wallachia three times between 1448 and his death in 1476/77. He is often considered one of the most im ...

, and

Kelly Russell Kelly Russell (born December 7, 1986) was a Canadian rugby union player, and is a coach for the sport. She captained at the 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup and was named to the Dream Team. International career Russell has also featured in two R ...

, a well-known Newfoundland musician.

References

* Miller, Elizabeth, ''Uncle Mose: The Life of Ted Russell'', Flanker Press, 2005. * O'Flaherty, Patrick, ''The Rock Observed'', University of Toronto Press, 1979.

Bibliography

* Russell, Ted, ''The Chronicles of Uncle Mose'' (Elizabeth Miller, ed.), Flanker Press, 2006. * Russell, Ted, ''A Fresh Breeze from Pigeon Inlet'' (Elizabeth Miller, ed.), Harry Cuff Publications, 1988. * Russell, Ted, ''Stories from Uncle Mose'' (Elizabeth Miller, ed.), Harry Cuff Publications, 1983. * Russell, Ted, ''The Best of Ted Russell, Number 1'' (Elizabeth Miller, ed.), Harry Cuff Publications, 1982. * Russell, Ted, ''Tales from Pigeon Inlet'' (Elizabeth Miller, ed.), Breakwater Books, 1977. * Russell, Ted, ''The Chronicles of Uncle Mose'' (Elizabeth Miller, ed.), Breakwater Books, 1975. * Russell, Ted, ''The Holdin' Ground: a radio play'', McClelland & Stewart, 1972. {{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Ted Writers from Newfoundland and Labrador Canadian male short story writers 1977 deaths 1904 births Bishop Feild School alumni 20th-century Canadian short story writers 20th-century Canadian male writers Dominion of Newfoundland people Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador MHAs