New Ontario Inn Has a Literary Cause

Al Purdy, Canada's Voice of the Land

Ontario’s newest fine Inn has to have a cause. Our cause is the promotion of the memory and works of one of Canada’s finest poets and intellectuals, Al Purdy.

Al Purdy was born 10 miles up the road in Wooler. He went to school in Trenton briefly and in later years, he lived 15 miles east of us, over in Ameliasburgh. His relatives are all around us. Purdy wrote prolifically about places across Canada and is known as ‘the voice of the land’. He was awarded the Order of Canada in 1982 and is a literary hero, particularly among writers and poets. Among Ginsberg, Kerouac, Kesey and Cohen to Thoreau and beyond, Al Purdy stands magnificently yet humble and profoundly ours.

Al Purdy and his wife Eurithe lived in nearby Ameliasburgh for many years. This was his last home and was a place of pilgrimage for some of Canada’s best known writers. A classic 60′s A-Frame structure, it is the subject of a campaign, called the A-Frame Trust, to preserve it for future generations. As Margaret Atwood, one of Canada’s top writers, said, “The preservation of this home is akin to the preservation of Canadian literary history”. The campaign needs help and we’ll be doing our best to step up. We plan on raising funds through a celebration of his writings and his connection to this area. We’ll post more details in the coming weeks.

Al Purdy at work in his A-frame house on nearby Roblin Lake in Prince Edward County. 1965. This picture is by John Reeves, the eminent Canadian photographer. Its from a photo shoot commissioned by the Canadian Magazine (now defunct). Mr. Reeves has generously allowed his images of Al to be used in the campaign to save the A-frame. Photo by John Reeves

There’s something about this area that’s very captivating but hard to put your finger on. Al Purdy may epitomize this phenomenon of unanticipated connection better than any person or thing. His poetry connects us to this area in unexpected and powerful ways. His view of other places is in many ways a lens that shone back on this place. Like so many here, he left and came back. As he said (poorly paraphrased), he couldn’t ‘feel the grass bend beneath the concrete’. (Author’s note: I promise to accurately quote and properly attribute shortly.)

As proud supporters of local arts, music and culture, we believe there’s no better cause and no better way to present the unexpectedly captivating beauty of our area than assisting with the preservation of the A-Frame and more generally with the memory and writings of Al Purdy.

Al Purdy’s books, letters and poems are available from Harbour Publishing. For more information on Al Purdy, the Wikipedia entry on Al Purdy offers an entry point to further reading.