John Mills (writer)

Howard Edwin "John" Mills (June 23, 1930 – January 16, 2016) was a Canadian writer, professor of medieval literature and publisher of novels and essays.

Early life and education

Mills was born in London, England in 1930 to working-class parents.[1] He went to high school in Sutton, just south of the city. He won a Surrey Agricultural scholarship to The University of Wales at Bangor, but spent most his time mountain climbing and did not graduate.

Career

Mills worked in Scandinavia for a few months, then was conscripted into the British Army in 1950 and served two years, one of them in Germany. He got a job in England as a technical writer, and the immigrated to Canada in 1952. He worked at various jobs, including encyclopaedia salesman and technical writer, and then he became a radar installer first on the Mid-Canada Line, then on the DEW-Line in the Canadian Arctic. He moved to Montreal in 1959 and worked as a tutor and a laundryman.

Mills married in 1960 and moved to Vancouver in 1961, and attended the University of British Columbia. In 1964 he received a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship at Stanford University where he completed a master's degree. In 1965 he finished his graduate work at Stanford and got a job at the then newly opened Simon Fraser University. In 1969 he was an assistant professor of English.

Mills wrote a number of novels and essays, and through part-time studies at the Vancouver School of Theology he received a Master's of Theological Studies degree in 1988. He served as a professor of medieval literature at Simon Fraser until his retirement in 1995 as a Professor Emeritus.[2] In 2014 he lived in Vancouver. Mills died January 16, 2016.[3]

Publications

Some of his essays and books include: The Land of Is (1972),[4] The October Men, Skevington’s Daughter,[5][6] Runner in the Dark (1992), Lizard in the Grass,[7][8] Thank your mother for the Rabbits (1993).[1]

Much of his material is more fully available in his book of autobiographical essays called "Thank your mother for the Rabbits". This book was shortlisted for the Hubert Evans Non-fiction Prize in 1994.[9][10]

Books

  • The Land of Is Oberon Press, 1972
  • The October Men Oberon Press,
  • Skevington's Daughter Oberon Press,[11][12]
  • Runner in the Dark Oberon Press, 1992
  • Lizard in the Grass ECW Press, 1980
  • Thank your Mother for the Rabbits Porcupine's Quill Press, 1993

References

  1. ^ a b Dunlop, Donna. "Brief Reviews - Non-fiction". Books in Canada.
  2. ^ JoAnn McCaig (21 October 2009). Reading In: Alice Munro's Archives. Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press. pp. 143–. ISBN 978-1-55458-743-8.
  3. ^ "Howard Edwin 'John' MILLS Obituary". Vancouver Sun, Jan. 23, 201
  4. ^ "Marshmallow Worlds: The Land of Is book review"[permanent dead link‍]. Canadian Literature.
  5. ^ Taylor, R. J. "Skevington's Daughter. JOHN MILLS".
  6. ^ "Private Realities"[permanent dead link‍]. Canadian Literature.
  7. ^ "Bubble-and-Squeak: Lizard in the Grass book review"[permanent dead link‍]. Canadian Literature.
  8. ^ "In Brief: Lizard in the Grass". Books in Canada.
  9. ^ "Hubert Evans Non-fiction Prize". Canadian Books & Authors.
  10. ^ "1994 Winners & Finalists" Archived 2016-06-02 at the Wayback Machine. BC Book Awards.
  11. ^ Harvey, Roderick W. "Private Realities"[permanent dead link‍]. Canadian Literature, 23 Apr. 2013. Web. 6 Mar. 2016.
  12. ^ Leslie, Susan. "Epistle-packing Stella"[dead link‍]. Books in Canada, Jun/Jul78, Vol. 7 Issue 6, p14. June 1978. (via EbscoHost, subscription required)