Background
Wayland Drew was born on December 9, 1932 in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada.
Wayland Drew was born on December 9, 1932 in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada.
Wayland earned a B.A. in English Language and Literature from Victoria College at the University of Toronto in 1957.
Wayland began a teaching career in 1961 at the high school in Port Perry, Ontario. He later went on to teach in Bracebridge and Muskoka Lakes, in addition to stints at the Ontario Ministry of Education, before retiring in 1994. Drew began to write seriously in high school and published a number of short stories (to magazines such as The Tamarack Review) and non-fiction pieces throughout his career, while also selling radio and film scripts.
Wayland's first novel was "The Wabeno Feast" (1973). Many readers, though, surely know him better as the author of an ecological science fiction trilogy, "The Erthring Cycle" (1984-1986), and of several movie novelizations. His non-fiction also reflected his concern for the environment and interest for Canadian landscapes, as seen in books such as "Superior: The Haunted Shore" and "A Sea Within: the Gulf of St. Lawrence". His ultimate novel, "Halfway Man" (1989), expanded on themes from his first.
Wayland married Gwendolyn Drew in 1957. They had a son and three daughters.