Farley Mowat Biography and latest books by Farley Mowat

Farley Mowat is a one of Canada\'s most widely-read authors. The numbers reveal the astounding success of his works: His works have been translated in more than 50 languages and he has sold more than 14 million copies of books authored by him. He achieved fame with the publication of his books such as People of the Deer and Never Cry Wolf. The latter, an account of his experiences with wolves in the Arctic, was made into a film, released in 1983. Mowat\'s advocacy for environmental causes and a writing style have earned him considerable amount of praise and criticism. His stories are generally fast-paced, gripping, very personal, and conversational.

Farley McGill Mowat was born on May 12, 1921, in Belleville, Canada. His father, Angus Mowat, who fought at the Battle of Vimy Ridge, was a librarian and enjoyed small success as a novelist. During the Great Depression, Farley’s family shifted base to  Saskatchewan. As a boy, Farley was fascinated by nature and animals. He had a dog Mutt, a rattlesnake, a gopher, two owls, a Florida alligator, many cats, and many other insects as pets. At 13, Farley founded a nature newsletter, Nature Lore, and had a weekly column on birds in the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. He used the money he gained from his writing to feed ducks and geese, who would have otherwise died.

Mowat then went on to study biology at the University of Toronto. During a field trip to Northern Canada, Mowat was flabbergasted at the plight of the Ihalmiut, a Caribou Inuit band, which led him to publish his first novel, People of the Deer. This book made Mowat a literary celebrity. This work was followed by a Governor General\'s Award-winning book for children, Lost in the Barrens, which was about two teenagers lost in the Arctic. Mowat followed up these works with a series of personal memoirs. The Regiment.

In 1963, Mowat wrote a supposedly fictionalized account of his experiences in the Canadian Arctic with Arctic wolves entitled Never Cry Wolf

Mowat then moved to Burgeo, Newfoundland, where he lived for 8 years. He published three books describing his evolving view of his Newfoundland neighbours: in The Rock Within the Sea, he presents Newfoundlanders as a heroic people uncorrupted by modern technology; The Boat Who Wouldn\'t Float reflects his disillusionment with a few Newfoundlanders; and, completing his disillusionment, A Whale for the Killing presents the shooting of a trapped and doomed whale as an inhumane tragedy. He was also co-author for the 1981 film version with Peter Strauss and Richard Widmark.

Then, Mowat became very interested in Dian Fossey, the American ethologist who studied gorillas and was brutally murdered in Rwanda in 1985. Mowat published two books about Fossey: Virunga: The Passion of Dian Fossey and Woman in the Mists — an allusion to Fossey\'s book Gorillas in the Mist.

He and his wife Claire Mowat currently live in Port Hope, Ontario part of Northumberland County, Ontario.