David Walker was a novelist whose work has been made into films. He was born in Dundee, Scotland but lived and died in St Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

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History

Canadian novelist David Harry Walker was born near Dundee, Scotland 9 February 1911. He received his early education in England, at Shrewsbury, later enrolling at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. After graduation in 1931, he was commissioned in The Black Watch, serving with the foreign battalion in India and Sudan (1932–38) and in Canada as aide-de-camp to Governor-General Lord Tweedsmuir, the novelist John Buchan (1938–39). On 27 July 1939 he married Willa Magee of Montreal. The couple had 4 sons: Giles, Barclay, David, and Julian.

In September 1939, amid threat of war, Walker returned to England, where he trained recruits. The next year he was posted to France with The Black Watch 51st Highland Division. Captured by the Germans at St. Valery in June 1940, he spent nearly 5 years in prisoner of war camps, escaping 3 times. On each occasion he reached the outside, only to be recaptured. While interned at Colditz Castle, he began to write poetry. Freed by American troops in 1945, he was later awarded the M.B.E. In 1946 he travelled to India where he served for a short time as comptroller of the household for Viceroy Lord Wavell (1946–47).

Following retirement from the British army, he returned to Scotland briefly, emigrating to St. Andrews, N. B. in 1948, intent on becoming a writer. A prolific author, Walker enjoyed a long and successful career which included the publication of approximately 100 short stories and 20 books. His novels The Pillar, about a prisoner of war camp, and Digby, a Scottish highlands story, won the Governor General's award for fiction

Governor General's Award for English language fiction

This is a list of recipients of the Governor General's Award for English language fiction.-1930s:*1936: Bertram Brooker, Think of the Earth*1937: Laura Salverson, The Dark Weaver*1938: Gwethalyn Graham, Swiss Sonata...

 for 1952 and 1953 respectively. Several of his books, including Geordie

Geordie (film)

Geordie is a 1955 British film based on David Walker's novel of the same title, with Bill Travers in the title role as a Scotsman who becomes an athlete at the Olympic Games...

, made into a motion picture, were set in his native Scotland, while Mallabec and Pirate Rock were set in his adopted home, New Brunswick. Where the High Winds Blow, written following a dogsled adventure in the Canadian North, is considered his most popular Canadian novel. His last book, Lean, Wind, Lean, an autobiography, was published in 1984.

Beyond his writing career, Walker took a keen interest in community affairs. An active conservationist, he served as president of Sunbury Shores Arts and Nature Centre in St. Andrews and as chair of St. Andrews Centennial Park. Between 1965 and 1991 he sat as a commissioner of the Roosevelt Campobello International Park Commission, serving as chair from 1970 to 1972. His success as a writer and his community involvement won him recognition. In 1955 the University of New Brunswick awarded him an honorary doctor of letters, and in 1987 he was made a Member of the Order of Canada. Walker died at St. Andrews on 5 March 1992, at age 81. Source [UNB Archives and Special Collections]

Works

Writer
Year	Title	Genre	Other notes
1963 1963 in literature The year 1963 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*First United States printing of John Cleland's 1749 novel, Fanny Hill . The book is banned for obscenity, triggering a court case by its publisher.*Leslie Charteris publishes his final collection of stories...	Amanita Pestilens Amanita Pestilens Amanita Pestilens is a 1963 Canadian film produced by F. R. Crawley, directed by René Bonnière. It was "the first Canadian feature film to be shot in both English and French with the same set of actors" and which included an early career performance by Geneviève Bujold along with performances by...
1958 1958 in literature The year 1958 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*August 18 - Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel Lolita is published in United States.*First volume of The Civil War by Shelby Foote is published....	Harry Black and the Tiger
1955 1955 in literature The year 1955 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*28 May - Philip Larkin makes a train journey from Hull to London which inspires his poem The Whitsun Weddings....	Wee Geordie
1957 1957 in literature The year 1957 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Lawrence Durrell publishes the first volume of The Alexandria Quartet. The final of the four volumes will be published in 1960....	Sandy was a Soldier's Boy

1949 The Storm and The Silence

1950 Geordie

1952 The Pillar (also released as The Wire (1953))

1953 Digby

1956 Harry Black

1957 Sandy Was a Soldier's Boy

1960 Where the High Winds Blow

1962 Dragon Hill

1962 Storm of Our Journey

1964 Winter of Madness

1965 Mallabec

1966 Come Back, Geordie

1968 Devil's Plunge (also released as Cab-Intersec)

1969 Big Ben

1969 Pirate Rock

1972 The Lord's Pink Ocean

1973 Black Dougal

1976 Ash

1977 Pot of Gold

1984 Lean, Wind, Lean

Source: [Canadian Books and Authors]

External links

• David Walker
• title / UNB Archives and Special Collections - David Walker
• Canadian Books and Authors