by James King
6 “The narrative is”: “Time and the Narrative Voice,” Margaret Laurence: The Writer and Her Critics, ed. W.H. New (Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1977), 158–9.
7 “That house”: A Bird in the House, 11.
8 “I had feared”: A Bird in the House, 191.
9 “Instead of writing”: ML to Al Purdy, 6 June 1968. Lennox, 87.
10 “They got just about”: ML to Jack McClelland, 6 April 1969. MS: McMaster.
11 The Canadian reviews: ML to Gordon Elliott, 17 May 1969. MS: McMaster.
12 “enormous male hostility”; “this is so astonishing”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 15 May 1969. MS: York.
13 “Personal troubles”: ML to Gordon Elliott, 23 May 1969. MS: McMaster.
14 Jack’s wound: Silver Donald Cameron, phone interview. September 1996.
15 “I’m in better shape”: ML to Al Purdy, 24 May 1969. Lennox, 138–9.
16 Judith Jones’s comments: MS: Texas.
17 “Upon further reflection”; “I’m terribly sorry”; “I have an awful feeling”: MS: Texas.
18 “John Cushman and I”; Jones to Gottlieb: MS: Texas.
19 “worked myself into”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 12 July 1969. MS: York.
20 “It is quite simple”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 27 May 1969. MS: York.
21 “Freudian accident”: ML to Al Purdy, 19 August 1969. MS: Queen’s.
22 “Yes, I’ll recover”; “—so when chips”: ML to Al Purdy, 20 December 1969. MS: Queen’s.
23 “focussed my mind”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 30 December 1969. MS: York.
24 ML as unfit parent: The magistrate’s remark must have come after this exchange between him and ML: “Do you take care of [David] when he is not at school?” he asked. Her reply: “He does not go to boarding school. He goes to day school and lives at home and I take care of him all the time.” Since ML had been in Canada during the autumn of 1969, her statement was not literally true. See ML to Al Purdy, 20 December 1969. MS: Queen’s.
25 “I took”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 30 December 1969. MS: York.
26 Information on ML’s suicide attempt comes from Jocelyn Laurence and Sandy Cameron.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
1 leave-taking: Phone conversation with Ken Roberts, May 1996.
2 “You will understand”: ML to Michelle Tisseyre, 9 June 1977. MS: Michelle Tisseyre.
3 “That was Gabrielle”: Phone conversation with Ken Roberts, May 1996.
4 “humorous that I am”: ML to Al Purdy, September 1969. MS: Queen’s.
5 “I did one”: ML to Al Purdy, September 1969. MS: Queen’s.
6 “LEAVE ME ALONE”: ML to Al Purdy, 11 February 1970. MS: Queen’s.
7 “Listen to how”: Dance, 194.
8 “the kids”: ML to Al Purdy, 11 February 1970. MS: Queen’s.
9 “hard as nails”: ML to Al Purdy, 11 February 1970. MS: Queen’s.
10 Don Bailey: Any reader of Don Bailey, Memories of Margaret: My Friendship with Margaret Laurence (Toronto: Prentice-Hall, 1989), should take into account the caveats sounded by Donez Xiques in her excellent review of the book in The American Review of Canadian Studies 22 (Spring 1992), 113–7. She calls into account the reliability of the information supplied in the book; she also notes that it is essentially autobiographical in nature and that ML is a minor character in the badly misnamed book.
11 “He has begun”: ML to Jane Rule, 26 January 1970. MS: University of British Columbia.
12 “as Jack McClelland”: ML to Don Bailey, 26 January 1970. MS: University of Toronto.
13 “created a small fortress”: Don Bailey, Memories of Margaret, 124.
14 “I’m honoured”: Don Bailey, Memories of Margaret, 57.
15 “I damn well”: ML to Al Purdy, 24 November 1969. MS: Queen’s.
16 “The talk”: ML to the Camerons, 27 September 1969. Wainwright, 51.
17 “I really wanted”: ML to Hugh MacLennan, 16 February 1970. MS: Queen’s.
18 “My daughter”: ML to Al Purdy, 1 February 1970. MS: Queen’s.
19 “Came back today”: ML to Al Purdy, 3 January 1970. MS: Queen’s.
20 “Learned that the brief encounter”: ML to Al Purdy, 21 January 1970. MS: Queen’s.
21 “The owners”: ML to Al Purdy, September 1969. MS: Queen’s.
22 “2 reasons”: ML to the Camerons, 11 October 1967. Wainwright, 43.
23 Granville Hicks: Saturday Review, 13 June 1964, 25–6.
24 Honor Tracy: New Republic, 20 June 1964, 19–20.
25 Honor Tracy: The New York Times Book Review, 3 August 1969, 30.
26 “Maybe, I am going”: ML to Al Purdy, 14 October 1969. MS: Queen’s.
27 “I have bought”: ML to Al Purdy, 5 November 1969. MS: Queen’s.
28 “Wow! What reading!”: ML to Jack McClelland, 9 April 1970. MS: McMaster.
29 “I had long passionate”: ML to Jack McClelland, 21 January 1970. MS: McMaster.
30 “So Canada”: ML to Jack McClelland, 21 January 1970. MS: McMaster.
31 “takes Irving”: ML to Al Purdy, 19 March 1970. MS: Queen’s.
32 “He had meant”: ML to Al Purdy, 19 March 1970. MS: Queen’s.
33 “a hell of a lot”: ML to Al Purdy, 5 December 1971. MS: Queen’s.
34 “Callaghan Fils”: ML to Al Purdy, 5 December 1971. MS: Queen’s.
35 “in a state”: ML to Al Purdy, 3 September 1971. Lennox, 226.
36 “Low Commissioner”: See ML to Will Ready, 8 February 1973. Wainwright, 162.
37 “Did I mention”; “I admire her poetry”: MS: Queen’s.
38 “I was talking”: ML to Ernest Buckler, 13 November 1974. Wainwright, 32.
39 “I am really”: MS: University of Toronto.
40 “pissed”: Interview with Mordecai Richler, September 1996.
41 first honourary degree: Three years earlier, she had been made a Honorary Fellow of United College, the first woman and the youngest person to be granted this distinction. Subsequent honorary degrees were given to ML by Trent (1972), Dalhousie (1972), University of Toronto (1972), Carleton (1974), Brandon (1975), University of Western Ontario (1975), Queen’s (1975), Mount Allison (1975), Simon Fraser (1977), York (1980), Emmanuel College, Victoria University, University of Toronto (1982).
42 “Guess what?”: ML to Al Purdy, 24 April 1970. MS: Queen’s.
43 “I enjoy talking”: ML to Al Purdy, 22 February 1970. MS: Queen’s.
44 “Last weeks”; “more or less”; “immersed in passionate”: ML to Jack McClelland, 20 July 1970. MS: McMaster.
45 “You don’t know”: ML to Jack McClelland, 20 July 1970. MS: McMaster.
46 “he knows”: ML to Al Purdy, 5 March 1970. MS: Queen’s.
47 “while those people”; “shaking with rage”: ML to Al Purdy, 5 March 1970. MS: Queen’s.
48 “see their dad”: ML to Don Bailey, 12 August 1970. MS: University of Toronto.
49 “into the loony bin”: ML to Al Purdy, 3 September 1971. Lennox, 228.
50 “He will be here”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 14 October 1971. MS: York.
51 “a very disturbing”: ML to Harold Horwood, 29 August 1972. MS: University of Calgary.
52 “I’ve decided”: 4 September 1970. Lennox, 185.
53 “The only thing”: ML to Alan and Robin Maclean, 3 September 1970. MS: James King.
54 “It doesn’t matter”: ML to Don Bailey, 12 August 1970. MS: University of Toronto.
55 “Feel depressed”: ML to Al Purdy, 14 August 1970. Lennox, 178.
56 “Have had a terrible”: ML to Jack McClelland, 3 May 1971. MS: McMaster.
57 “You know something?”: ML to Jack McClelland, 6 April 1971. MS: McMaster.
58 “I suppose”: ML to Don Bailey, 12 August 1970. MS: McMaster.
59 “Trouble is”; “fictional situation”; “followed a”; “detailed social”; “If I don’t”: ML to Al Purdy, 13 October 1970. Lennox, 194–6.
60 “existing out there” and all subsequent references on
this page: ML to Al Purdy, 22 March 1971. MS: Queen’s.
61 “Things are changing”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 1 May 1971. MS: York.
62 “why don’t I”; “You could make”: ML to Al Purdy, 3 September 1971. MS: Queen’s.
63 “I am pretty disenchanted”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 28 October 1970. MS: York.
64 “Look, you’re right”; “Personally, I think”: ML to Al Purdy, 3 April 1971. MS: Queen’s.
65 “No visitors”: Dance, 199.
66 “Have had various hassles”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 24 February 1972. MS: York.
67 “an aide”: Dance, 200.
68 “it is likely”: ML to Ernest Buckler, 23 December 1974. Wainwright, 33.
69 “Personally”: ML to John Metcalf, 28 March 1972. MS: University of Calgary.
70 “has to be the most”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 18 December 1972. MS: York.
71 “I wonder why”: ML to Al Purdy, 30 December 1972. Lennox, 262.
72 Little girl from Sandy Bay reserve: Wes McAmmond in conversation with Greta Coger on 25 July 1984. Typescript provided by the interviewer.
73 Citations from A Bird in the House: 117, 114, 120, 116, 118–9.
74 “means of getting”: ML to Harold Horwood, 14 November 1972. Wainwright, 96.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
1 “Good … to see Elmcot”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 3 November 1972. MS: York.
2 “longer than”: ML to Jane Rule, 12 December 1972. MS: University of British Columbia.
3 “Do you know”: ML to Mary Adachi, 3 November 1972. MS: Mary Adachi.
4 “narrative present”: ML to Jane Rule, 12 December 1972. MS: University of British Columbia.
5 “I have, I think”: ML to John Metcalf, 26 January 1973. Wainwright, 132–3.
6 “MY NOVEL IS FINISHED”: ML to Al Purdy, 3 February 1973. Lennox, 269.
7 “withdrawal symptoms”; “this is the end”: ML to Al Purdy, 3 February 1973. Lennox, 270.
8 “I’m dealing”: ML to Margaret Atwood, 18 February 1973. MS: University of Toronto.
9 “Ambiguity is everywhere”: ML to Margaret Atwood, 18 February 1973. MS: University of Toronto.
10 “ALL RIGHT”; “get it all”: ML to Jane Rule, 21 February 1973. MS: University of British Columbia.
11 “to avoid handing over”: ML to Jane Rule, 12 March 1973. MS: University of British Columbia.
12 “I have already sold”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 23 April 1973. MS: York.
13 “Well, that is 3 times”: ML to Al Purdy, 21 April 1973. Lennox, 277.
14 Margaret finally moved back to Canada in 1974, not 1973. She was able to avoid the nefarious taxes because the sale of Elmcot took place in 1973, allowing her to cease her legal residency in England at the end of the year. In 1973, she also purchased a house in Lakefield, near Peterborough, although she did not reside there until March 1974.
15 “I realized”: Dance, 201–2.
16 “I may seem”: ML to Jack McClelland, 21 March 1973. MS: McMaster.
17 “My American editor”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 7 June 1973. MS: York.
18 “Judith Jones”: Dance, 198.
19 Since no early draft: However, the letters from Jones and McClelland to ML do provide a great deal of information about the draft originally sent to the publishers. Further information can be reconstructed by consulting ML’s working notes on The Diviners (York); these papers include ML’s copy of Jones’s list (made after her five-hour meeting with ML) of suggested changes.
20 “MAJOR CHANGES”: In the Knopf Archive (University of Texas), there are four pages of further revisions subsequently made by ML and sent to Judith Jones.
21 “Let me start”: Jack McClelland to ML, 12 June 1973. MS: McMaster.
22 On 28 August 1973, Judith Jones told Jack McClelland (MS: Texas): “You will see that there has been some major surgery performed—all for the good, I’m convinced, and the fact that Margaret feels the novel is much the better for it reinforces the conviction.… Your long letter to Margaret was wonderful, Jack, and a great help to me because we saw eye to eye on just about everything.… I hope we can all get together some time to celebrate the launching of this book. I am very excited about its possibilities and I feel strongly that Margaret has brought together some very powerful elements here and created a tremendously moving and dramatic story.”
23 “I am enclosing”: ML to Jack McClelland, 4 July 1973. MS: McMaster.
24 “Clearing” Elmcot: The only extant typescripts of the novels are at McMaster because the University librarian Will Ready, a friend and admirer of ML, purchased them from her at the various times the novels were completed. ML, who much appreciated the cash each purchase generated, was nevertheless extremely uncomfortable with anyone seeing such material.
25 “I went to bed”: Dance, 204.
26 “Mum, I give”: Dance, 205.
27 “I want an old”: Dance, 205–6.
28 “used to be”: ML to Al Purdy, 19 January 1974. MS: Queen’s.
29 “8 Regent Street”: ML to Al Purdy, 22 March 1974. MS: Queen’s.
30 “She was the first”: Lakefield Chronicle, 13 March 1986.
31 “In all the years”: Don Bailey, Memories of Margaret (Toronto: Prentice-Hall, 1989), 204.
32 “very sensitive”: ML to Jack McClelland, 7 October 1973. MS: York.
33 “We had a gathering”; “No refreshments”; “small group”: ML to June Callwood, 30 August 1979. MS: TWUC Archive, McMaster.
34 “I’ve liked being”: ML to Jack McClelland, 7 October 1973. MS: McMaster.
35 “The conference”: ML to Jack McClelland, 6 November 1973. MS: McMaster.
36 “The thing that one”: ML to the Camerons, 22 November 1968. Wainwright, 47.
37 quandary: Inclusion and exclusion were certainly the big issues facing the Membership Committee, as can be seen in ML’s letter to John Metcalf of 23 November 1973 (MS: University of Calgary): “Re: Membership Committee, how are we going to organize things? I guess if a member is suggested and wants to join, we communicate by mail, eh? I mean, to all members of the committee. It may be quite a lot of letters for awhile. Do you have any secretarial help? I don’t. I don’t imagine you do, either. Well, press on!
“Re: new members—there are some who occur to me as possibilities right away. Do you think we should contact them and suggest that they might like to be members? I think we should. But this needs some working out, I think, John. That is, according to the constitution, we accept or reject all members by majority vote, but of course it seems clear that if a person clearly satisfies the conditions of membership and is not a borderline case, we really don’t have the right to say NO. On the other hand, we’ve all got to say Okay, even if it is really automatic. What, then, should the procedure be? Do we circulate a list of potential members to all the committee—just send out a copy and ask each member the names and then mail it to the next member of the Committee? It would be done on a kind of standard form, it seems to me.… Shouldn’t be difficult to work out something that will entail a minimum of work for all of us.”
38 “said nothing”: ML to Al Purdy, 22 May 1974. Lennox, 306. Fulford’s account confirms the substance of ML’s story but makes some crucial points in opposition to her point of view: “I was asked to interview her for the CBC, not debate her. I wanted to get from her the best possible account I could of what, from her point of view, went into the book. To impose my own views, at that stage, would have been offensive (because listeners had not yet had a chance to read the book) and counter-productive. I am aware that she was annoyed with me. I heard about it the same week, from the McClelland & Stewart publicity representative, Patricia Bowles. Patricia told her that she thought my behaviour in the interview purely professional, but Margaret was not appeased. Later she told others she thought I was ‘duplicitous.’ ” Robert Fulford to James King, 18 July 1996.
39 Fulford’s reservation about style: However, he does make the crucial point that “the putting-together process
is both substance and theme.” The Diviners and autobiography: In a letter of 27 June 1977 to David Williams, ML mentions that The Diviners could properly been seen as a spiritual autobiography.
40 “a character like Morag”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 25 January 1974. MS: York.
41 excised passages: Typescript pages 10 and 113. MS: McMaster.
42 “They remain shadows“: The Diviners, 27.
43 “Christie is short”: The Diviners, 44.
44 “Although one does”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 10 February 1980. MS: York.
45 “The thing is”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 13 January 1972. MS: York.
46 “I’ve got my work”: The Diviners, 12.
47 “How far could anyone”: The Diviners, 477.
48 racial mix: ML commented on this aspect of The Diviners in a letter to George Woodcock of 12 August 1975 (MS: Queen’s). In that book, she told him, she attempted to give the reader a sense of the relationship between history’s dispossessed and ancestral myths. She herself saw a clear link between the dispossession of the Scots who emigrated to Canada and the dispossession of the Métis. “So many parallels, and in so many ways. If I had your grasp of history, and your ability to put down events both movingly and analytically, I’d write about it. As it is, I have to suggest some of these themes through my own medium, fiction.”
49 “Even Milton”: ML to Timothy Findley, 8 January 1982. Wainwright, 82.
50 “I won’t quit writing”: ML to Ernest Buckler, 30 August 1974. Wainwright, 27.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
1 “it was just”: Dance, 211.
2 “lined up”: Dance, 211–2.
3 “comes of having”: ML to Harold Horwood, 22 July 1974. Wainwright, 99.
4 “You’ve struggled”: Dance, 255.
5 “Please let us hope”: ML to Mary Adachi, 21 April 1973. MS: Mary Adachi.
6 “lived at”: Dance, 213.
7 “My heavens”: Wainwright, 21.
8 “I do not personally”: MS: Queen’s.
9 “You’ve never said”: ML to Al Purdy, 29 August 1974. MS: Queen’s.
10 “I’m sorry”: ML to Al Purdy, 15 December 1974. MS: Queen’s.