William Ormond Mitchell, (March 13, 1914 – February 25, 1998) was a Canadian writer and broadcaster. His "best-loved" novel is '' Who Has Seen the Wind'' (1947), which portrays 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 provin ...

from the point of view of a small boy and sold almost a million copies in Canada.CBC Radio Canada
Book Profile: Who Has Seen the Wind
CBC Books, cbc.ca. Retrieved on: 2012-12-26 As a broadcaster, he is known for his radio series ''

Jake and the Kid ''Jake and the Kid'' is a collection of short stories by W. O. Mitchell, originally published in 1961. Many stories in the series appeared in ''Maclean's'' prior to the book's publication. Mitchell also published a sequel volume, ''According to J ...

'', which aired on

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

between 1950 and 1956 and was also about life on the Prairies.

Early life and career

W. O. Mitchell was born in

Weyburn Weyburn is the eleventh-largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. The city has a population of 10,870. It is on the Souris River southeast of the provincial capital of Regina and is north from the North Dakota border in the United States. The n ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...

. He studied

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...

and philosophy at the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.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, ...

and then completed his BA and a teaching certificate at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a Public university, public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexande ...

in 1943. While at the University of Alberta, Mitchell became a brother of the

Delta Kappa Epsilon Delta Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as ''DKE'' or ''Deke'', is one of the oldest fraternities in the United States, with fifty-six active chapters and five active colonies across North America. It was founded at Yale College in 1844 by fiftee ...

fraternity (Delta Phi chapter). An author of novels, short stories, and plays, Mitchell is best known for his 1947 novel, ''Who Has Seen The Wind'', which has sold close to a million copies in North America, and the radio series and later a collection of short stories 1961, ''

'', which subsequently won the Stephen Leacock Award. Both of these portray life on the Canadian Prairies where he grew up in the early part of the 20th century. He has often been called the Mark Twain of Canada for his vivid tales of young boys' adventures. In 1942, while Mitchell was teaching high school, three of his short stories were published. In 1947 his first and trademark novel ''Who Has Seen the Wind'' was published to critical acclaim and commercial success. In 1948 Mitchell moved 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 anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

to become the fiction editor for ''

Maclean's ''Maclean's'', founded in 1905, is a Canadian news magazine reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian persp ...

'' magazine. While residing in Toronto, Mitchell created ''Jake and the Kid'', a weekly radio series for the

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. ...

whose 320 episodes ran from 1950 to 1956. These productions were produced by Swedish immigrant CBC Radio head, Esse W. Ljungh. In addition to producing a large body of work, Mitchell served as professor of creative writing and writer-in-residence at several Canadian universities and was the director of the

Banff Centre Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, formerly known as The Banff Centre (and previously The Banff Centre for Continuing Education), located in Banff, Alberta, was established in 1933 as the Banff School of Drama. It was granted full autonomy as ...

's writing division. In 1974 he returned to Winnipeg, where he served a term as Writer in Residence at the

Winnipeg School Division The Winnipeg School Division is a school division in Winnipeg, Manitoba. With 78 schools, it is the largest of six public school divisions in Winnipeg, as well as the largest and oldest school division in Manitoba. Its schools collectively te ...

No.1 and was given an honorary doctorate by Brandon University. Mitchell spent his later years in Calgary,

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 ...

, dying there in 1998.

Awards and honours

In 1973, Mitchell was made an officer 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 cen ...

. The list of other honours Mitchell has received includes honorary doctorates from five Canadian universities and being sworn in as a Member of the

Queen's Privy Council for Canada The 's Privy Council for Canada (french: Conseil privé du Roi pour le Canada),) during the reign of a queen. sometimes called Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council (PC), is the full group of personal consultants to the ...

on November 5, 1992. In 2000, Mitchell was honoured by the government of Canada with his image on a postage stamp. Mitchell has had schools named after him in Calgary
W.O. Mitchell School
and

Kanata, Ontario Kanata (, ) is a suburb of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located about west of the city's downtown core. As of 2021, Kanata had an urban population of 137,118. Before it was amalgamated into Ottawa in 2001, it was one of the fastest-growing ...

( W. O. Mitchell Elementary School).

Quotation

Canadian actor

Donald Sutherland Donald McNichol Sutherland (born 17 July 1935) is a Canadian actor whose film career spans over six decades. He has been nominated for nine Golden Globe Awards, winning two for his performances in the television films '' Citizen X'' (1995) a ...

quoted the following excerpt from ''Who Has Seen the Wind'' at the opening ceremony of the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gret ...

Vancouver, British Columbia 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. The ...

, Canada.

List of works

Novels

*(1947) '' Who Has Seen the Wind'' () *(1962) '' The Kite'' () *(1973) '' The Vanishing Point'' () *(1981) '' How I Spent My Summer Holidays'' () *(1984) '' Since Daisy Creek'' () *(1988) '' Ladybug, Ladybug'' () *(1989) '' According to Jake and the Kid'' () *(1990) '' Roses are Difficult Here'' () *(1992) '' For Art's Sake'' ()

Radio

*(1950–1956) ''

'' - ran weekly on CBC Radio` *(1951, 1965 published, 1974 play, 1993 book) ''

The Black Bonspiel of Wullie MacCrimmon ''The Black Bonspiel of Wullie Maccrimmon'' is a play by Canadian author W. O. Mitchell. It was written as a radio play in 1951, but later produced for television by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 1965. It has since been widely produced ...

''W.O. Mitchell
Canadian Encyclopedia

Stage

*(1978) '' Back to Beulah'' - won the Chalmers Award, 1976 *(1982) ''For Those in Peril on the Sea''

Audio books

*(1997) '' An Evening with W.O. Mitchell'' - features Mitchell reading from his own work

Television

*(1977) ''

The Magic Lie ''The Magic Lie'' is a CBC television anthology from 1977 to 1979. Host W. O. Mitchell gave a strange introduction promoting automatic writing. The stories anthologized included ''The Infinite Worlds Of Maybe'' by Lester del Rey, ''A Horse For R ...

'' as host *(1980) ''Canada Vignettes: Melvin Arbuckle, Famous Canadian'' as writer and narrator *(1981) ''

Titans In Greek mythology, the Titans ( grc, οἱ Τῑτᾶνες, ''hoi Tītânes'', , ''ho Tītân'') were the pre-Olympian gods. According to the ''Theogony'' of Hesiod, they were the twelve children of the primordial parents Uranus (Sky) and Gai ...

'' as

Stephen Leacock Stephen P. H. Butler Leacock (30 December 1869 – 28 March 1944) was a Canadian teacher, political scientist, writer, and humorist. Between the years 1915 and 1925, he was the best-known English-speaking humorist in the world. He is known ...

*(1990) '' Road to Avonlea'' (1 episode - The Quarantine at Alexander Abraham's) as Alexander Abraham

Notes

External links

W.O. Mitchell Ltd. website (biography, books, rights)
W.O. Mitchell Elementary School
in Kanata, Ontario
W. O. Mitchell's
entry in

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available f ...

Order of Canada CitationA Tribute to W.O. Mitchell
at the University of Calgary
An excerpt from Douglas Gibson's book, "Stories About Storytellers" on W.O. MitchellW.O. Mitchell fonds (papers)
a
Archives and Special Collections
University of Calgary {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, W.O. 1914 births 1998 deaths 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Canadian male novelists Canadian male short story writers Officers of the Order of Canada Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada People from Weyburn University of Alberta alumni University of Manitoba alumni Writers from Saskatchewan Writers from Winnipeg Writers from Calgary Stephen Leacock Award winners Canadian male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian short story writers