Background
Hugh Garner was born on February 22, 1913, in Batley, Yorkshire, England.
( Originally published in 1949, Storm Below tells the sto...)
Originally published in 1949, Storm Below tells the story of a fictional Royal Canadian Navy ship and its crew. The adventure unfolds over six days of an escort run across the Atlantic Ocean to Newfoundland during the Second World War. The ship, the HMCS Riverford, is a composite of the vessels, mostly corvettes, that author Hugh Garner served on during his time in the Canadian navy, and the Canadian sailors whose experiences he relates are masterfully drawn from the crewmen he knew during his months at sea. In his preface to Storm Below, his first novel, Garner says: "It takes all kinds to make a world, and it also takes all kinds to make a war – or fight one after some of the others make it…. They his characters are not even ’typical’ sailors, if such exist. All I can say to justify them is that they are drawn in the image of hundreds who made up the Royal Canadian Navy. They do not need an apology – they were out there, and we won."
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/155488456X/?tag=2022091-20
Hugh Garner was born on February 22, 1913, in Batley, Yorkshire, England.
He came to Canada in 1919 with his parents, and was raised in Toronto, Ontario where he attended Danforth Technical High School.
During the Great Depression, he rode the rails in both Canada and the United States, and then joined the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War. During World World War II he served in the Royal Canadian Navy. Following the war, Garner concentrated on his writing.
He published his first novel, Storm Below, in 1949.
Garner"s most famous novel, Cabbagetown, depicted life in the Toronto neighbourhood of Cabbagetown, then Canada"s most famous slum, during the Depression. lieutenant was published in abridged form in 1950, and in an expanded edition in 1968.
The Intruders, a sequel depicting the gentrification of the neighbourhood, was published in 1976. Later in his career, he concentrated on mystery novels, including Death in Don Mills (1975) and Murder Has Your Number (1978).
lieutenant is nevertheless, the foundation for his writing.
His theme is working-class Ontario. The realistic novel his preferred genre. Cabbagetown is the best-known example of his style.
Garner struggled much of his life with alcoholism, and died in 1979 of alcohol-related illness.
A housing cooperative in Cabbagetown is named in his memory. Death
He died on June 30, 1979.
( Originally published in 1949, Storm Below tells the sto...)
His focus on the victimization of the worker reflects his socialist roots.