David Walker (author)
| David Walker | |
|---|---|
| Born | 9 February 1911 Dundee, Scotland |
| Died | 5 March 1992 (aged 81) St Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Nationality | Scottish/Canadian |
| Period | 1955 to 1963 |
| Genre | Drama |
David Harry Walker (9 February 1911 – 5 March 1992) was a Scottish-born Canadian novelist. He was born in Dundee, Scotland, later moving to St Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada, where he began his career as a writer. His work has been made into films.
Walker was born near Dundee, Scotland and received his early education in Shrewsbury, later enrolling at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. After graduation in 1931, he was commissioned in the Black Watch. He served with the foreign battalion in India and Sudan (1932–38) and in Canada (1938–39) as aide-de-camp to Governor-General Lord Tweedsmuir, the novelist John Buchan.
There he met Willa Magee of Montreal, and they married on 27 July 1939. The couple had four sons together: Giles, Barclay, David, and Julian.
In September 1939, amid the threat of war, Walker returned to England, where he trained recruits. The next year he was posted to France with The Black Watch 51st Highland Division. Captured by the Germans at St. Valery in June 1940, he spent nearly 5 years in prisoner of war camps, escaping three times; each time he was recaptured after getting outside the camp.While interned at Colditz Castle, he began to write poetry.
Freed by American troops in 1945, he was later awarded the M.B.E. In 1946 he travelled to India, where he served for a short time as comptroller of the household for Viceroy Lord Wavell (1946–47). Following retirement from the British army, Walker returned briefly to Scotland.
He emigrated to St. Andrews, New Brunswick in 1948, intent on becoming a writer. A prolific author, Walker enjoyed a long and successful career, publishing approximately 100 short stories and 20 books. His novels The Pillar, about a prisoner of war camp, and Digby, a Scottish highlands story, won the Governor General's award for fiction for 1952 and 1953, respectively. Several of his books, including Geordie (1955), made into motion pictures. That was set in his native Scotland, while Mallabec and Pirate Rock were set in his adopted home province of New Brunswick. Where the High Winds Blow, written following a dogsled adventure in the Canadian North, is considered his most popular Canadian novel. His last book, Lean, Wind, Lean, an autobiography, was published in 1984.
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