A much-noted book when it was published simultaneously in Canada and England in 1962,
The Legend of John Hornbyreturned to public attention in the first decade of the twentieth century because of its role in Elizabeth Hay’s Giller prize-winning novel
Late Nights on Air. “Always in the background as I wrote this novel was George Whalley’s marvelous biography”, Hay writes in her acknowledgements, “a book that has stayed with me since I first read it thirty years ago” (Hay 2007, 366). Hay is one of many readers who have never forgotten the experience of reading the book.
John Hornby was born in England on September 21, 1880 and died in the barren grounds of the Canadian north on April 19, 1927. Although he lived in the north for most of his life from the age of twenty-three until
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Citation: DiSanto, Michael. "The Legend of John Hornby". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 22 December 2013 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=33209, accessed 27 November 2024.]
