Drew, Wayland

Wayland Drew was born in 1932 in Oshawa, Ontario. He graduated with a B.A. Honours in 1957 from Victoria College at the University of Toronto. He majored in English Language and Literature. He married Gwendolyn Parrott in October of 1957. They had four children, Scott, Marda, Paula and Cindy. Drew raised his family in Port Perry, Ontario and Bracebridge, Ontario. Drew began to write short stories and poetry in high school and university. Drew's first published novel, "The Wabeno Feast," was released in 1973 by Anansi. Drew's interest in Canadian history, Native culture and social ecology comes through in this novel and his other works. "The Wabeno Feast" was republished in 1985 by General Publishing. Since "The Wabeno Feast," Drew has written eleven other books of fiction and non-fiction. These include the non-fiction books, "Superior: The Haunted Shore" (1975), "A Sea Within: the Gulf of St. Lawrence" (1984), both with photography by his friend, Bruce Litteljohn, and "Brown's Weir" (1983) with photography by his wife, Gwen. In the late 1970s, Drew was approached by a friend, Matthew Robbins, to write a novelization of the film script, "Corvette Summer." The novelization was released in conjuction with the film in 1978. Drew proceeded to write the novelizations of three other film scripts: "Dragonslayer" (1981), "Batteries Not Included" (1987), and "Willow" (1989). Drew produced a science-fiction trilogy, "The Erthring Cycle," in the mid-eighties. The titles include "The Memoirs of Alcheringia" (1984), "The Gaian Expedient" (1985), and "The Master of Norriya" (1986). His final novel, "The Halfway Man," was published in 1989 by Oberon. Drew wrote and published works of short fiction and non-fiction. Some of his early stories were published in "The Tamarack Review" and "Acta Victoriana." Later short fiction was published in collections such as "New Canadian Short Stories," "Anthology," "Islands of Hope," and "Once Upon a Time." Drew also wrote scripts for CBC radio and for a Ministry of Natural Resources film called "Places Out of Time" (1994). He also wrote short non-fiction for a variety of publications such as "Ontario Naturalist," "Alternatives," "The Illustrated Natural History of Canada," and "Green Teacher." Drew began teaching high school in Port Perry, Ontario, in 1961. He earned a teaching certificate by taking summer courses at the Ontario College of Education while teaching during the school year. As a teacher, he also worked at the Ministry of Education and Bracebridge and Muskoka Lakes Secondary School. Drew took leaves from teaching in order to write full time, though he also wrote part-time while teaching. He retired from teaching in 1994. In addition to writing and teaching, Drew was active in the community. He was president of the Historical Society of Bracebridge, and chair of the "Signs of Hope" environmental conference in 1991. Drew also gave numerous guest lectures and facilitated workshops. Drew's acomplishments were recognized formally twice in 1991. In October of that year, Drew was honoured with the Lieutenant-Governor's Award from the Conservation Council of Ontario. Later that month, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Trent University. Wayland Drew died on December 3, 1998.