I just read an article claiming that he spent less than 90 hours studying wolves before writing his book "Never Cry Wolf'.

Not the two summers and one winter he claimed.

Anyone else hear this?

It was supposedly in a Toronto Star article.

I once had the priviledge of meeting a former game warden, from the Northwest Territories, who was personally aquainted with the man. His nickname for old Farley was, Hardly knows it, which I gather was the general consensus
Grizz

I've heard rumors/stories that the entire "never cry wolf" thing is a completely false concocted crock of crap. I can't verify it though.

I remember discussing him around a campfire back in the 70's. The general consenus was that no one had come across him in the north, so he must have been one of the "experts" whose plane had sat on the tarmac for over 30 minutes! 15 minutes sitting on a plane used to be good enough for magazine articles. One old timer at the fire could only remark, "He must have drank an awful lot of tea in order to mark his territory!". ~Arctic~

I have not ready that many books in my life,but i read,his PEOPLE OF THE DEER,THE DESPERATE PEOPLE,THE DOG WHO WOULDN'T BE,THE BOAT WHO WOULDN"T FLOAT,NEVER CRY WOLF,THE SNOW WALKER.I enjoyed reading his books,it was fun story time and got to learn a few things too.

I've loved all his books...you have to be critical of anything you read though. Not everything in print is the whole truth. His take on the vikings in the north is far fetched....but now people are starting to wonder if the vikings actually did penetrate the north.

the chef

I have West Viking and for the most part it seemed rational.He approached possible landing sites from the standpoint of a sailor considering wind, currents and safe harbors .As I remember settlements were found in some of those places...There has been a tremendous denial of new ideas amongst anthropologists in the past .They refused to believe a man could exist on the Inuit diet.So Stephansson existed on the diet in NYC under doctors supervision for three months ! This as a result of his 1910-1912 expeditions.

the general consenus amongst northern folks is that he is usually full of it

Farley Mowat (1921- )
born in Belleville, Ontario on May 12, 1921
son of a librarian
grew up in Windsor, Ontario and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
in 1935 his uncle, an ornithologist, took him on a trip to the Arctic, which awakened his love of nature, and shaped his later life
served in the Canadian army during WWII
graduated from the University Toronto in 1949
has supported himself solely through writing since then
books have have been translated into twenty-two languages
denied entry to the United States during the Reagan Administration
novels:
Lost in the Barrens (1956) won the Governor General's award
The Black Joke (1962)
The Curse of the Viking Grave (1966)
memoirs and non-fiction:
People of the Deer (1952)
The Dog Who Wouldn't Be (1957)
The Desperate People (1959)
Coppermine Journey (1958)
Ordeal by Ice (1960)
Owls in the Family (1961)
Never Cry Wolf (1963) filmed in 1983
West Viking (1965)
The Polar Passion (1967)
Canada North (1967)
This Rock Within the Sea: A Heritage Lost (1968)
Sibir: My Discovery of Siberia (1970)
A Whale for the Killing (1972)
Tundra (1973)
Canada North Now: The Great Betrayal (1976)
And No Birds Sang (1979), about his war experiences
Virunga (1987) republished as Woman in the Mist
short fiction:
The Snow Walker (1975)
more information

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This is from a google search. I remember studying him back in the 70's. I remember that the war really messed him up for a while. I was suspicious of his wolf stories, thinking they were sentimental. I believe it says fiction on the jacket.

What is sort of neat about him is that he supported himself from his writing,( not to be dismissed in his day) was refused entry in the US, and in my view had a generally depressed view of man. His work is romantic in my view. It sells I guess.

In one of his works, I think, I remember him taking about a whale that was trapped in a cove somewhere and how the locals would poke 303 rounds in it, not killing it.

He had a hand in the "sea for slauther movement"-green peace thing in the 80s, but I might be wrong. He lived in Nova Scotia at that time, I think. Which was a brave thing to do with his views. But romantics are brave.

An army courrier, he once drove his motorcycle through Italian lines, in error, in WW11. There a general and his army surrendered to him! He was alone!and had no directives to be there. He though he was going to be taken prisoner.

He suffered shell shock so severe that he could not function anymore in WW11 and became a casualty.

For his service I cannot dismiss the man. For not being admitted into the US he must of said some truth or irritated some yank. His green peace day might have made him a terrorist? I kind of smile for this. He is a romantic, take with a grain of salt type. Like my unkle who was with him in Italy WW11, they struggled to do good in a world they knew could be so bad. In their struggle they sometimes annoyed, exagereated, (they were story tellers),romantics and pissed off the uniformed of other nations as easy a taking a puff of cigarette and looking you "stait" in the eye. I mean a whole army surrendered to Farley, alone! Who does a yank border guard think he is....after all! LOL

Years ago I heard that he had admitted all of his wolf stuff was made up. Can't prove it though.

His views just seem ridiculous to anyone who has had any contact at all with wolves.

Wasn't he charged as being a Russian spy many years ago?

I enjoy Farley Mowat as a writer, and I especially enjoy his historical works focussing on the north. I don't agree with most of his political opinions, but that doesn't detract from his skill as a writer, in my opinion.

I just take him as he is; good, bad and ugly!

Shared a hunting camp in N. Quebec back in '84 with Dr. Phil Wright, a prof. Mammal Zoology at the U of MT and at the time the chairman of the Records Committee of B&C. A fine hunter and gentleman. In discussing "Never Cry Wolf" his firm comment was, "a great work of fiction" , wolves are wolves. Wolves eat caribou, or anything else available. And that is as it is. But, Mowatt's writing has nothing to do with sience.

To me, Mowatt introduced parts of the Canadian North that I had never imagined and have since persoanlly explored. That intoduction, in itself, was to me of great value. My "hats off" to a great writer.

quote:

Originally posted by calgarychef1:
I've loved all his books...you have to be critical of anything you read though. Not everything in print is the whole truth. His take on the vikings in the north is far fetched....but now people are starting to wonder if the vikings actually did penetrate the north.

the chef

Nothing far fetched about it at all, except where he has the Inuit horrified by the aggression of the Norse. Farley just seemed to get more full of shit the older he got (I know he's not dead yet, he just stopped writing anything worthwhile so he kind of is to me)

Dean

Farley lives here in the same town as me. I grew up chasing rabbits and fox just outside of town and Farley use to walk his dogs through the same area that we hunted. He is not pro hunting I can tell you that much, I don`t think he`s a member of PETA either.