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1950

publication of The Titanic. Poems for Senior Students (1950), 37-77

publication of Foreword to Hidden Springs: A Narrative Poem of Old Upper Canada, and Other Poems, by Jenny O'Hara Pincock. Waterloo, Ontario: n.p., 1950, vii-viii

January to April 1950

publication in Northern Review, 3 (December 1949/January 1950) of:

in preparation for Towards the Last Spike reads Harold Innis's History of the Canadian Pacific Railway, Walter Vaughn's Life of Van Horne and John MacNaughton's Lord Strathcona

lectures to American Women's Club of Toronto on Brébeuf and His Brethren; to an Anglican Church group on "Newfoundland"; to a club in Oshawa on Behind the Log

gives radio broadcast on Robert Frost

makes three-day visit to Montreal, and addresses Montreal Branch of the Canadian Authors' Association and Arthur Phelps's English students at McGill University

first meeting with John Sutherland

photograph of John Sutherland (1944)

January 1950

writes "Myth and Fact," "The Good Earth," "Cycles," and "The Unromantic Moon" after being disturbed by President Truman's announcement that the United States would develop a hydrogen bomb

7 January 1950

begins to write Towards the Last Spike

17 February 1950

letter to Earle Birney [hydrogen bomb; submits "Myth and Fact" and "The Unromantic Moon" to Earle Birney for the Canadian issue of Poetry Commonwealth edited by Birney]

mid-February 1950

gives formal public lecture on King Lear at Victoria College

10 April 1950

letter to Murdo Mackinnon [Congratulations on the announcement in the paper (unidentified)]

11 May 1950

letter to Marjorie Benét [condolences on the death of W.R. Benét]

Summer 1950

publication of "The Good Earth." Canadian Poetry Magazine, 13 (Summer 1950), 4-5

2 July to August 1950

teaches summer school courses on Elizabethan and Jacobean drama at Queen's University

in preparation for Towards the Last Spike reads extensively on the Canadian Pacific Railway and on the geology of western Canada, and plans a trip to western Canada after the Canadian Pacific Railway promises half-price fare certificates for two covering rail passage and berths and Canadian Pacific hotels in Vancouver and Winnipeg

plagued by rheumatism in one knee

3 July 1950

letter to Viola Pratt [news from Kingston]

5 July 1950

letter to Viola Pratt [news from Kingston]

6 July 1950

letter to Viola Pratt [news from Kingston]

postcard to Viola Pratt [teaching duties]

12 July 1950

letter to Viola Pratt [news from Kingston]

17 July 1950

letter to Viola Pratt [Viola's visit to Kingston]

18 July 1950

postcard to Viola Pratt [weekend visit to Toronto]

25 July 1950

letter to Viola Pratt [Viola's trip]

27 July 1950

letter to Viola and Claire Pratt [Viola and Claire's trip; Arthur Scammell]

10 August 1950

letter to Viola Pratt [enclosing Kipling story]

12 August 1950

letter to Viola Pratt [Cataraqui Golf tournament]

8-14 September 1950

arrives in Vancouver after four-day railway journey

in preparation for Towards the Last Spike reads original documents and records, and consults with historians and mining engineers at the University of British Columbia; seeks information regarding trilobites and other sea-fossils, and on the composition of water in Kicking Horse and Frazer Rivers

visits Earle Birney, Roy Daniells, and other friends

9 September 1950

letter to Claire Pratt [research in Vancouver for Towards the Last Spike]

10 September 1950

letter to Viola Pratt [research for Towards the Last Spike]

letter to Claire Pratt [research on trilobites, crinoids and brachiopods for Towards the Last Spike]

15 September 1950

departs for Winnipeg, with day-long stopovers with Viola's relatives in Red Deer and Regina

16 September 1950

stopover in Calgary; visits Zoo

acquires information from Ralph Whitney on fossils and mountain structure which he will later use in Towards the Last Spike

17 September 1950

stopover in Regina to visit with Viola's relatives

letter to Roy and Laurenda Daniells [thanks for hospitality at the University of British Columbia]

letter to Claire Pratt [research in Calgary and Regina]

letter to Earle Birney [note of thanks (visit)]

18-21 September 1950

continues research on Towards the Last Spike in Winnipeg

photograph of EJP standing beside the locomotive, the Countess of Dufferin

gives interview to Winnipeg Tribune, where he maps out general scheme of Towards the Last Spike

18 September 1950

letter to Viola Pratt [meeting relatives in Regina; research on Towards the Last Spike]

letter to Claire Pratt [meeting relatives in Regina; research on Towards the Last Spike]

22 September to 3 August 1950

drafts several passages of Towards the Last Spike while waiting for the resolution of a Canadian Pacific Railway strike

23 September 1950

returns to Toronto from Winnipeg

8 October 1950

letter to Alan Crawley [letter of thanks (visit)]

16 October 1950

letter to Lorne Pierce [agrees to sponsor A.B.]

17 November 1950

letter to E.K. Brown [progress of Towards the Last Spike; growing interest in role of language]

18 November 1950

letter to Earle Birney [inquiring whether "Myth and Fact" has appeared in Poetry Commonwealth]

late November 1950

writes "To G.B.S." to commemorate the recent death of George Bernard Shaw

23 November 1950

letter to Earle Birney [letter of condolence after the death of Birney's mother]

2 December 1950

letter to John Gray [Towards the Last Spike "about half finished – more than 500 lines"]

22 December 1950

letter to George Woodcock [praise for Woodcock's British Poetry Today]

late December

attends conference of the Modern Languages Association, for the last time, in New York

26 December 1950

postcard to Viola Pratt [arrival in New York City]

letter to Claire Pratt [news from New York City]

28 December 1950

postcard to Viola Pratt [news from New York City]

1951

January to May 1951

continues, in spite of numerous distractions, to research history and geology for Towards the Last Spike

16 January 1951

letter to E.K. and Margaret Brown [letter of thanks (gift of unidentified book on "the Canadian millionaires"); news from New York]

25 January 1951

letter to John Sutherland [praise for Northern Review]

10 February 1951

letter to Earle Birney [poem for Poetry Commonwealth; heard Birney on radio]

Spring 1951

publication of "Myth and Fact." Poetry Commonwealth, 8 (Spring 1951), 2

23 April 1951

death of E.K. Brown

30 April 1951

letter to Margaret Brown (Mrs. E.K.) [letter of condolence after the death of E.K. Brown]

May 1951

resumes serious writing of Towards the Last Spike

11 May 1951

letter to Ralph Gustafson [praise for poems and short story]

16 May 1951

letter to Irving Layton [praise for The Black Huntsman]

Summer 1951

photograph of EJP at 21 Cortleigh Boulevard

late 1951

draft letter to unidentified "K" [enclosing McLuhan's The Mechanical Bride]

2 July to 16 August 1951

teaches, with reservations and constant back pains, summer school courses at Queen's University for the last time

3 July 1951

letter to Viola and Claire Pratt [arrangements in Kingston]

5 July 1951

letter to Viola Pratt [news from Kingston]

8 July 1951

letter to Viola Pratt [news from Kingston; working on Towards the Last Spike]

19 July 1951

letter to Phyllis Webb [publishing history of Pratt's books; hoping to complete Towards the Last Spike by November]

20 July 1951

postcard to Viola and Claire Pratt [news from Kingston]

24 July 1951

letter to Viola Pratt [news from Kingston]

6 August 1951

Henry Masson and Carl Schaefer do sketches of Pratt

"Ned at Ease," sketch of EJP by Carl Schaefer

postcard to Claire Pratt [news from Kingston]

8 August 1951

postcard to Viola Pratt [news from Kingston]

letter to Claire Pratt [previous postcard may not have arrived]

10 August 1951

postcard to Viola Pratt [Quebec scene on postcard]

13 August 1951

postcard to Claire Pratt [news from Kingston]

letter to Viola Pratt [Claire's vacation; news from Kingston]

16 August 1951

returns to Toronto with Towards the Last Spike, "nearly three-fourths done"

September 1951

placed on the University of Toronto's "semi-retired" list, with a smaller teaching load

letter to Leonard W. Brockington [admiration for John Masefield; Masefield's suggestion for revision to "The Cachalot"]

Autumn 1951

publication of "Cycles." Contemporary Verse, 36 (Fall 1951), 8-9

21 September 1951

letter to Michael F. Harrington [note of congratulations (publication of Harrington's "Lukey's Boat")]

24 September 1951

letter to Anne Wilkinson [appreciation of Wilkingson's Counterpoint to Sleep]

early October 1951

Towards the Last Spike ready for "a more or less final typing"

10 October 1951

letter to Margaret Brown [E.K. Brown's papers]

late October 1951

sends final typescript of Towards the Last Spike to John Gray at Macmillan

8 November 1951

letter to M.M.H. MacKinnon [dinner invitation]

15 November 1951

letter to John Sutherland [material for critical essay on Pratt in Northern Review; description of Towards the Last Spike; will send typescript; praise for Northern Review]

29 November 1951

letter to John Gray [response to critical readers' suggestions for changes to Towards the Last Spike; proposes to add "coda"]

late 1951

letter to 'K' [encloses Marshall McLuhan's The Mechanical Bride]

1952

photograph of EJP

c. January 1952

letter to Claire Pratt [financial arrangements for Claire; invitation to Assumption College]

2 January 1952

letter to Arthur L. Phelps [thanks for copy of Phelps' book; invitation to speak at University Women's Club]

16 January 1952

letter to Hugh Eayrs [revised last page of TLS]

letter to John Gray [enclosed copy of 'Victoria Reports' which should encourage sales]

28 January 1952

letter to Yvonne Agazarian [unable to send a donation to pm magazine]

30 January 1952

letter to Claire Pratt [financial arrangements for Claire; preparing textbook for Macmillan's]

15 February 1952

falls on slippery pavement and breaks left shoulder, and is housebound and placed in a cast for several weeks; is troubled afterward by bursitis

resigns from his position at Queen's University Summer School as a result of injured shoulder

24 February 1952

letter to 4th Year Students [shoulder injury]

25 February 1952

letter to John Sutherland [comments on Sutherland's article "E.J. Pratt: A Major Contemporary Poet"; comments on various poems]

15 March 1952

letter to John Sutherland [permission fee for "The Great Feud"]

18 March 1952

reads from Towards the Last Spike at the Liberal Arts Club, Victoria College

22 March 1952

letter to Father V.J. Guinan [topics for lectures to be given at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas]

28 March 1952

reads from Towards the Last Spike at Hart House Theatre, University College

5 May 1952

letter to F. David Hoeniger [agrees to act as reference]

14 May 1952

letter to Claude and Christine Bissell [enclosing tickets for Saturday]

25 May-6 June 1952

trip to Texas to receive an honorary degree from St. Thomas University in Houston and to attend the Ninth Annual Southwest Writer's Conference in Corpus Christi

26 May 1952

postcard to Viola and Claire Pratt [en route to Houston]

telegram to Viola and Claire Pratt [arrival in Houston]

28 May 1952

postcard to Viola and Claire Pratt [arrival in Houston]

29 May 1952

receives honorary degree from St. Thomas University in Houston

31 May 1952

postcard to Viola Pratt [news from Houston]

31 May-3 June 1952

reads from The Titanic at the Writer's Conference in Corpus Christi

photograph of EJP at the Writer's Conference

1 June 1952

postcard to Claire Pratt [news from Corpus Christi]

postcard to Viola Pratt [news from Corpus Christi]

3 June 1952

postcard to Claire Pratt [travel plans]

5 June 1952

postcard to Viola Pratt and Nellie [en route to Toronto]

6 June 1952

returns to Toronto

letter to Viola Pratt [Viola's trip to New York City; Pratt to be honoured with the first National Fine Arts award for literature]

early June 1952

letter to Lord Beaverbrook [praise for Desmond Pacey's Creative Writing in Canada]

8 June 1952

letter to Desmond Pacey [has written letter to Lord Beaverbrook in praise of Pacey]

letter to Father V.J. Guinan [letter of thanks (Houston trip)]

9 June 1952

letter to Viola Pratt [humourous anecdote from Corpus Christi]

15 June 1952

letter to W.A. Deacon [CAA conference; postponement of the presentation of the National Fine Arts award for literature to August 14 in Banff]

18 June 1952

letter to W.A. Deacon [CAA conference; postponement of the presentation of the National Fine Arts award for literature]

letter to Desmond Pacey [encloses Lord Beaverbrook's reply to his letter in praise of Pacey]

Summer 1952

publication of "The Deed." Canadian Poetry Magazine, 15 (Summer 1952), 7

letter to Lorne Pierce [recommends Ronald Hambleton's Object and Event to Lorne Pierce for publication by Ryerson Press]

late June 1952

attends the Canadian Authors' Association convention in London, Ontario

apprehensive about the public reception of the "experimental" poem Towards the Last Spike

27 June 1952

publication of Towards the Last Spike. Toronto: Macmillan, 1952

reviews positive

9 July 1952

letter to Ralph Gustafson [reviews of Towards the Last Spike]

15 July 1952

letter to A.J.M. Smith [gift copy of Towards the Last Spike]

25 July 1952

letter to John Sutherland [appreciation of Sutherland's review of Towards the Last Spike in Poetry (Chicago)]

letter to Karl Shapiro [enclosing "Myth and Fact" and "The Unromantic Moon" in response to request for submissions to Poetry (Chicago)]

8 August 1952

letter to John Sutherland [background in Psychology and Methodism]

9 August 1952

leaves Toronto by train for Banff to receive the University of Alberta's National Fine Arts Award for "contributions to the cultural progress of Canada"

11 August 1952

letter to John Sutherland [comments on The Titanic; influence of Varieties of Religious Experience]

12 August 1952

letter to W.A. Deacon [program for the presentation of the Pratt Medal for Poetry at the Banff School of Fine Arts]

letter to A.J.M. Smith [broadcast review of Towards the Last Spike]

13 August 1952

letter to Claire Pratt [news from Banff]

14 August 1952

receives gold medal, along with Sir Ernest MacMillan and Frederick Haines, at University of Alberta ceremony; speaks about Newfoundland idioms and experiences in Banff in 1913

17 August 1952

postcard to Claire Pratt [news from Banff]

27 August 1952

letter to Earle Birney [letter of recommendation for Canadian Government Overseas Award]

letter to Karl Shapiro [publication of "Myth and Fact" in Poetry (Chicago)]

9 September 1952

letter to Carl Klinck [note of thanks (visit)]

12 September 1952

telegram to Raymond Gushue [Agrees to speak at installation of new president of Memorial University]

13 September 1952

letter to Raymond Gushue [questions about speech]

19 September 1952

guest of honour at a grand banquet hosted by Sir Ellsworth Flavelle at the York Club

22 September 1952

letter to Raymond Gushue [travel arrangements]

23 September 1952

letter to M.M.H. MacKinnon [praise for broadcasts]

October 1952

publication of "Thanksgiving." Presbyterian Message, 62 (October 1952), front cover

7 October 1952

letter to Viola Pratt [news from Newfoundland]

8 October 1952

addresses convocation on "the function of the university in modern society" at ceremonies installing a chancellor and a new president at Memorial University in St. John's

photograph of EJP addressing convocation at Memorial University

9 October 1952

reads The Titanic at Prince of Wales College

10 October 1952

speaks at Littledale Academy, a Roman Catholic school for girls

letter to Claire Pratt [news from Newfoundland]

11-12 October 1952

spends time with brother Calvert and family; disheartened by the general ill-health of Pratt family

mid-October 1952

letter to Earle Birney [note of congratulations (Canadian Government Overseas Award)]

20 October 1952

letter to Desmond Pacey [visit to Toronto]

late October 1952

completes "Magic in Everything" after being asked for a Christmas poem by Mayfair, last poem he is to write except for "Landfall Ahead," commissioned for Royal Visit in 1959

13 November 1952

letter to George Johnston [news from Victoria College; reception of Towards the Last Spike]

20 November 1952

letter to Earle Birney [has recommended Birney for articles for Saturday Night]

December 1952

publication of "Magic in Everything." Mayfair (December 1952), 48-49

early December 1952

letter to Henry W. Wells [Memorial University convocation]

late 1952

letter to John Sutherland [note of thanks (for passing on Roy Campbell's praise of Pratt; praise for Campbell's poetry)]

4 December 1952

letter to Raymond Gushue [corrections to convocation address manuscript]

25 December 1952

letter to George Johnston [praise for Johnston's poems; Christmas greetings]

1953

publication of The Titanic. Poems for Upper School (1953), 27-67

Winter 1953

publication of "My First Book." Canadian Author and Bookman, 28 (Winter 1952-1953), 5-7 [essay]

letter to William Arthur Deacon [Pratt's honorary degree from University of Toronto]

15 January 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [Claire's illustrations for "Magic in Everything"]

21 January 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [Claire's finances; allergy season]

late January 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [Claire's finances]

4 February 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [Claire's plans to return to university; review of family finances]

9 February 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [Claire's postgraduate studies; her illustrations for "Magic in Everything"]

letter to Roy Wiles [address to Learned Societies in London, Ontario]

13 February 1953

letter to Roy Wiles [topic for Learned Societies address]

14 February 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [transcript for graduate school]

28 February 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [news from Toronto]

c. March 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [Claire's finances]

letter to Claire Pratt [Claire's job at Ginn publishing; family finances]

13 March 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [birthday greetings; coming events]

20 March 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [move to duplex]

22 March 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [mail for Claire]

27 March 1953

death of G.H. Clarke

29 March 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [speeches at Queen's University and Assumption College]

1 April 1953

reads "Newfoundland Reminiscences" at a faculty dinner, Queen's University

5 April 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [$200 enclosed; hiccups at the Innises' dinner]

8 April 1953

reads "Newfoundland Reminiscences" at a graduation dinner, Assumption College, Windsor

11 April 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [Assumption College graduation dinner]

23 April 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [candles]

27 April 1953

moves from 21 Cortleigh Boulevard to a duplex apartment at 47 Glencairn Avenue

letter to Claire Pratt [move to 47 Glencairn]

1 May 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [move to 47 Glencairn]

6 May 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [birthday gifts for Viola Pratt]

11 May 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [general news]

12 May 1953

letter to John Sutherland [Roy Campbell's poetry; no poems for Northern Review but a number of projects in mind]

19 May 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [university dinner]

23 May 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [university dinner; at work on address to the Learneds]

29 May 1953

reads "In Quest of the Humanities" at the Humanities Association of Canada in London, Ontario

31 May 1953

retires from full-time teaching

letter to Claire Pratt [news from London, Ontario]

June 1953

publication of "The Unromantic Moon." Poetry, 82 (June 1953), 143

5 June 1953

receives honorary Doctorate of Letters at University of Toronto convocation

programme for the convocation

tribute to EJP by University of Toronto President Sidney Smith

letter to Claire Pratt [house sold; travel arrangements for visit to Cambridge, Massachusetts]

7 June 1953

letter to M.M.H. MacKinnon [meeting in Cambridge, Massachusetts]

8 June 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [hotel arrangements]

9 June 1953

letter to Margaret Brown [gift copy of Towards the Last Spike; praise for E.K. Brown's biography of Willa Cather]

12-22 June 1953

visits Claire in Boston with Viola

Summer 1953

letter to Arthur and Sally Phelps [visit with the Phelps family in Whitby, Ontario]

25 June 1953

awarded Governor-General's Medal for Towards the Last Spike at annual Canadian Authors' Association meetings in Toronto

letter to Claire Pratt [trips to Stratford and St. John's]

27 June 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [news from Toronto]

15 July 1953

attends production of Richard III at the first Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario

1 August 1953

EJP and Viola leave for Newfoundland

2-5 August 1953

stay at brother Calvert's in St. John's

4 August 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [vacation in St. John's with Calvert Pratt]

5 August 1953

takes train to Corner Brook for fishing and sight-seeing

7 August 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [news from Newfoundland]

11 August 1953

postcard to Claire Pratt [news from Newfoundland]

11-23 August 1953

takes cruise on Canadian National Steamship Northern Ranger up the Great Northern Peninsula and along the coast of Labrador to Hopedale; the return trip down the east coast of Newfoundland to St. John's is several days late because of fog and storms

23-25 August 1953

visits friends and relatives in St. John's, takes a motor trip to Topsail, and gives a fifteen minute broadcast on a local radio station regarding his cruise

26 August 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [conclusion of Newfoundland vacation; radio broadcast in St. John's]

31 August 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [sending possessions to Claire]

2 September 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [profits from broadcasting and lecturing; stamp collecting]

4 September 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [involvement in Canadian Mental Health Association]

5 September 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [heatwave; Viola Pratt's lecture to the "Talents Club"]

14 September 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [$300.00 enclosed; plans for Canadian Mental Health Association dinner party]

c. 15 September 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [plans for Canadian Mental Health Association dinner party]

Autumn 1953

forced to vacate his office at Victoria College and sell many books to the College library

reads manuscripts for Macmillan; makes extensive revisions to Leonard E.F. English's manuscript Historic Newfoundland

letter to Claire Pratt [parody of Longfellow's "Hiawatha"]

23 September 1953

postcard to Claire Pratt [news from Toronto]

27 September 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [dinner with Roland Hayes]

2 October 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [Nora Cochrane; golf]

9 October 1953

as Chairman of the Board of Toronto branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association, hosts dinner meeting to solicit funding for the Association

mid-October 1953

receives "substantial" royalty cheque from the British Broadcasting Corporation as a result of their broadcast of a dramatized version of Towards the Last Spike from the Edinburgh Festival

12 October 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [Canadian Mental Health Association dinner party; duties as Chairman of the Board; address on "Newfoundland" at Victoria College's Charter Night celebrations]

13 October 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [success of the Mental health Board dinner]

20 October 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [Mental Health Association; praise for Claire's poem and illustrations for World Friends]

23 October 1953

attends gala banquet at the Royal York Hotel in honour of publishing, broadcasting and sports magnate Jack Kent Cooke

24 October 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [dramatized version of Towards the Last Spike; editing manuscript for Macmillan; Mental Health Association dinner party]

28 October 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [Claire's apartment; new book by Thomas Costain]

29 October 1953

letter to William Arthur and Sally Deacon [tickets for lecture by Roy Campbell]

letter to Claire Pratt [$250 for moving and Christmas preparations]

2 November 1953

travels to Montreal to introduce Roy Campbell at a reading and to spend the evening with him at the home of John Sutherland

3 November 1953

postcard to Claire Pratt [dinner for Roy Campbell in Montreal]

5 November 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [chaired second dinner for Roy Campbell at St. Michael's College (Toronto)]

c. 6 November 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [bazaar; Pelham Edgar portrait]

8 November 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [bazaar for Talents' Service Club]

9 November 1953

attends official retirement dinner at Burwash Hall, Victoria College, and is made Professor Emeritus

11 November 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [retirement dinner]

c. 15 November 1953

letter to Leo Macauley [note of thanks (retirement dinner)]

17 November 1953

letter to Lorne Pierce [Pelham Edgar Portrait Fund]

18 November 1953

letter to Desmond Pacey [Pelham Edgar Portrait Fund]

26 November 1953

letter to Lorne Pierce [dinner plans for the next evening]

27 November 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [Pelham Edgar Portrait Fund]

December 1953 to February 1954

undergoes physical and emotional strain from influenza and daily visits to brother Calvert, hospitalized in Toronto and in serious condition from complications related to over-work after surgery

early December 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [Pratt's illness; Claire's Christmas card design]

letter to Claire Pratt [Christmas plans]

7 December 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [book edited by Claire for Harvard University Press; general news]

14 December 1953

letter to Claire Pratt [requests Claire's time of arrival in Toronto]

15 December 1953

letter to Awards Committee of the Royal Society of Canada [letter of support for C.F. Klinck]

1954

photograph of Claire, EJP, and Viola

13 January 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [the flu; school broadcast of The Titanic]

16 January 1954

unveils Allan Barr's portrait of Pelham Edgar at a ceremony at Victoria College

c. 18 January 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [Pratt's health and retirement]

c. 20 January 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [lecture and broadcast of The Titanic; Malcolm Wallace]

21 January 1954

speaks to the Newfoundland Group of the Library Association on The Titanic

23 January

gives party for Helen and Northrop Frye, who are leaving for Princeton

25 January 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [portraits of Pratt and Pelham Edgar; general news]

29 January 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [editing manuscript of Leo English's Historic Newfoundland]

30 January 1954

reads "The Cachalot" to Arts and Letters Club

3 February 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [health of Calvert Pratt]

5 February 1954

letter to Earle and Esther Birney [Newfoundland anecdote]

6 February 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [Claire's art; Calvert Pratt's health]

10 February 1954

letter to Malcolm Ross [Ross's Poetry and Dogma; Calvert Pratt's health]

letter to Claire Pratt [Pratt's birthday; Calvert Pratt's health]

21 February 1954

letter to Norah [Holden] Pilkington [renewed acquaintance with former student]

25 February 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [plans to visit Boston]

2 March 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [health of Calvert and Mary Pratt; praise for Claire's stories and illustrations for World Friends]

9 March 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [dramatization of The Titanic]

10 March 1954

gives talk at Dundas Collegiate

15 March 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [dinner parties; Calvert Pratt's health]

21 March 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [travel arrangements for trip to Boston]

25 March 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [broadcast of The Titanic; Calvert Pratt's health]

26 March 1954

reads from Towards the Last Spike to Poetry Group of Toronto Branch of Canadian Authors' Association

31 March 1954

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation broadcasts a dramatization of The Titanic

letter to Claire Pratt [general news; broadcast of The Titanic]

April 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [humorous anecdote]

5 April 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [travel arrangements for trip to Boston]

26 April 1954

sells car and gives up driving

27 April 27 to 3 May 1954

visits Claire in Boston with Viola

7 May 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [discussion of "The Great Feud" for University Women's Club]

8 May 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [address to University Women's Club]

10 May 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [Claire's proposed operation; dinner with Calvert Pratt]

11 May 1954

speaks to the University Women's Club on "The Great Feud"

12 May 1954

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation broadcasts EJP reading his poetry ("Newfoundland," "On the Shore," "The Way of Cape Race," "Erosion," "The Dying Eagle," "The Shark," "To an Enemy")

letter to John Sutherland [agrees to assist John Sutherland on his book-length commentary after Sutherland receives a Humanities Research Council grant]

letter to Claire Pratt [Claire's gift of pipe tobacco]

14 May 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [Annual Canadian Authors Association dinner]

17 May 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [John Sutherland's plans to write a book-length study on Pratt's poetry]

21 May 1954

letter to John Sutherland [information for Sutherland's study]

22 May 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [payment from Saturday Night, and from BBC to broadcast poems; plans for May 24]

23 May 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [cars; Clare Hincks' depression]

27 May 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [praise for Claire's stories; travel plans]

30 May 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [Julia McGrew's Made for Murder; family news]

2 June 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [CBC radio interview]

9 June 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [travel plans; taping of CBC radio interview]

interviewed on tape at Canadian Broadcasting Corporation studios by Ronald Hambleton; interview to be broadcast early in the following year

11 June 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [travel plans; famiy news]

14 June 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [travel arrangements for trip to Boston]

17-23 June 1954

visits Claire in Boston while Viola is in Quebec with the University Women's Club

24 June 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [safe return to Toronto; research for Viola Pratt's Famous Doctors; family news]

27 June 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [news from Toronto]

27-28 June 1954

attends opening of the second season of the Stratford Festival and a reception afterward given by the Governors of the Festival; sees Measure for Measure and The Taming of the Shrew

1 July 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [Stratford Festival]

2 July 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [Claire's trip to Nantucket; royalty cheque]

14 July 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [health of Calvert Pratt; family news]

18 July 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [Viola Pratt's work for World Friends; Calvert Pratt]

26 July 1954

letter to John Sutherland [Charles G.D. Roberts' introduction to Verses of the Sea]

August 1954

Claire visits and informs parents of intention to enter hospital in New York in late September for surgery to correct curvature of the spine

11 August 1954

spends day at Stratford seeing productions of Oedipus Rex and The Merchant of Venice

23 August 1954

letter to Raymond Gushue [unable to help with fundraising for Memorial University of Newfoundland]

8-14 September

visits Claire in Boston with Viola

13 September

has lunch at Harvard with Douglas Bush

15 September 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [Pratt's new office]

late September 1954

Viola travels to New York to help Claire prepare for surgery; she makes several lengthy visits over the next four months

October 1954

declines invitation to tour Russia with other artists

8 October 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [membership in golf club; Charter Night ceremonies]

11-19 October 1954

Viola helps Claire to move from Boston to New York, where she is to receive medical treatment

20 October 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [Viola Pratt's speaking engagements; Toronto Branch of the Mental Health Association]

letter to Desmond Pacey [praise for Pacey's "English Canadian Poetry, 1944-54"; praise for James Reaney; hasn't written "anything worthwhile" since Towards the Last Spike mainly because of eye problems; comments on They Are Returning]

22 October 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [organizing his manuscripts; general news]

24 October 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [party for C.P. Snow; Eric Adwinkle's lecture on trip to Russia; general news]

26 October 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [Clare Hincks' lecture on mental health; visit from Winnie Fitzpatrick]

letter to M.M.H. MacKinnon [meeting at the Park Plaza Hotel]

29 October 1954

letter to Desmond Pacey [explication of "The Great Feud" and comments on other poems]

letter to Claire Pratt [Pratt's office at Victoria College]

31 October 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [visit to home of Mary Gibson Parker]

late October 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [humorous anecdote about Presbyterians]

2 November 1954

letter to Earle Birney [best wishes on Birney's Down the Long Table; has not written poetry since Towards the Last Spike because of eye problems and worry over Claire's health]

letter to Esther Birney [humorous anecdotes]

3-10 November 1954

visits Claire in New York at the Hospital for Special Surgery

7-21 November

Viola visits Claire in New York at the Hospital for Special Surgery

mid-November 1954

writes, at the request of the Ontario Department of Education, a School Broadcast on Browning's "Andrea del Sarto"

11 November 1954

letter to Desmond Pacey [explication of The Witches' Brew and "The Fable of the Goats"]

letter to Viola Pratt [news from Toronto]

12 November 1954

letter to Viola and Claire Pratt [lunch with colleagues]

15 November 1954

letter to Viola Pratt [correspondence; Claire's progress; royalties]

16 November 1954

letter to Viola Pratt [correspondence]

letter to Claire Pratt [Methodist anecdotes]

17 November 1954

letter to Viola Pratt [news from Toronto; work on Browning's "Andrea del Sarto" for Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]

letter to John Sutherland [agrees to assist Sutherland in arranging accommodations and a program of studies after he moves to Toronto to resume university studies]

20 November 1954

letter to Viola and Claire Pratt [general news; royalties from Harvard Vocarium Records; activities of colleagues]

24 November 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [amusing anecdote]

25 November 1954

letter to Desmond Pacey [poetic influences; nationalist sentiment in Pratt's poetry; Canadian pastoral poetry]

27 November 1954

attends party for A.J.M. Smith

30 November 1954

postcard to Claire Pratt [news from Toronto]

December 1954

publication of "The Manger Under the Star." World Friends, NS26 (December 1954), front cover

1 December 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [news from Toronto; Pratt's sketches]

3 December 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [praise for Claire's artwork]

10 December 1954

presents new lecture on The Titanic at the Liberal Arts Club of Toronto

letter to Viola and Claire Pratt [lecture on the The Titanic at the Liberal Arts Club]

13 December 1954

letter to Viola Pratt [Christmas mails]

14 December 1954

postcard to Claire Pratt [gift copy of Collected Poems (1944)]

16 December 1954

letter to Viola and Claire Pratt [Mental Health Association dinner]

18 December 1954

letter to Viola Pratt [news from Toronto; lecture on The Titanic]

19 December 1954

letter to Viola Pratt [conversation with Ina McCauley; domestic affairs]

letter to Claire Pratt [praise for Claire's woodcuts]

24 December 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [Christmas greetings; cooking adventures]

28 December 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [family news]

30 December 1954

letter to Claire Pratt [holiday dinners; Mental Health Association budget]

c. 1955

proof booklet of photographs of EJP

photographs of EJP speaking on The Titanic to students at Jarvis Collegiate

1955

January 1955

at the suggestion of Lorne Pierce, Pratt is added to list of beneficiaries of the Canadian Writer's Foundation

1 January 1955

letter to Claire Pratt [New Year's celebrations]

2 January 1955

letter to Claire Pratt [New Year's celebrations]

5 January 1955

letter to Claire Pratt [John Sutherland in Toronto; general news]

14 January 1955

letter to Viola Pratt [Mental Health Association meeting]

18 January 1955

letter to Viola and Claire Pratt [news from Toronto]

22 January 1955

letter to Viola Pratt [Claire's and Viola's driver's licenses; general news]

25 January 1955

letter to Viola Pratt [Viola's driver's license]

26 January 1955

letter to Theresa Thomson [thanks for cheque from Canadian Writers' Foundation]

28 January 1955

letter to Viola and Claire Pratt [plans for Viola and Claire to come to Toronto; scheduling of Mental Health Association meeting]

30 January 1955

letter to Viola and Claire Pratt [invitation to attend opening of University of Windsor, formerly Assumption College; general news]

7 February 1955

letter to Ronald Everson [detailed notes on Everson's poems]

8 February 1955

letter to Theresa Thomson [duplicate cheque from Canadian Writers' Foundation]

16 February 1955

letter to Theresa Thomson [duplicate cheque from Canadian Writers' Foundation returned]

16 April 1955

letter to Leo Cox [unable to make trip to Montreal]

19 April 1955

letter to Ronald Everson [thanks for clipping, words of encouragement for Everson's efforts in writing poetry]

4 June 1955

receives honorary Doctorate of Letters at Assumption College (later University of Windsor) convocation

6 June 1955

letter to Henry Alexander [Learned Societies of Canada meetings]

18 June 1955

letter to Louis Dudek [praise for Dudek's Europe and Other Poems; has not written poetry since Towards the Last Spike because of eye problems and worry over Claire's health]

Spring to early Summer 1955

Claire in Toronto recovering from surgery

22 June 1955

interview by Ronald Hambleton broadcast on Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

24 July 1955

letter to Margaret Brown (Mrs. E.K.) [tumor discovered on Claire's spine while having cast removed in Toronto hospital; operation tomorrow]

14 August 1955

letter to R.G. Everson [praise for Everson's poems]

29 September 1955

letter to John Sutherland [comments on The Poetry of E.J. Pratt: A New Interpretation; negative comments on CIV/n and on Irving Layton in particular]

8 November 1955

letter to Earle Birney [praise for Birney's Down the Long Table]

letter to Esther Birney [amusing story]

December 1955

publication of "Magic in Everything." Issued with Christmas and New Year's Greetings from the Macmillan Company of Canada 1955, 7 pp

1956

6 March 1956

records selections from Collected Poems (1944) in the Victoria College Library

EJP reading selections from Collected Poems (1944)

6 March 1956

letter to Theresa Thomson [Canadian Writers' Foundation grant]

13 March 1956

letter to Ralph Gustafson [publication of "The Prize Cat" in South African anthology]

19 May 1956

letter to Wendy Jenks [explication of "In Absentia"]

13 June 1956

letter to Carl Klinck [bibliographical data for Rachel: A Sea Story of Newfoundland in Verse]

20 June 1956

letter to Lorne Pierce [meeting of Executive Board of the Canadian Writers' Foundation]

Summer 1956

publication of "The Titanic." Poems for Upper School 1956-57 (1956), 15-43

10 July 1956

letter to Sister Dorothy Marie Doyle [praise for Doyle's M.A. thesis "The Epic Note in the Poetry of Edwin John Pratt"]

21 July 1956 [?]

letter to Arthur Phelps [praise for Deacon's television interview with Jean Béliveau]

25 July 1956

letter to Sister Dorothy Marie Doyle [answers to questions about symbolism and imagery in Brébeuf and His Brethren for Doyle's dissertation "The Poetic Imagery of Edwin John Pratt"; recording of poem]

4 August 1956

death of brother James

13 August 1956

letter to John Sutherland [praise for The Poetry of E.J. Pratt: A New Interpretation]

15 August 1956

letter to Carlyle King [praise for articles on Shaw and on Pratt]

late Summer 1956

makes frequent visits to the hospital bedside of the dying John Sutherland

1 September 1956

death of John Sutherland

19 September 1956

letter to Ralph Gustafson [gift copy of Poems for Upper School 1956-57]

Autumn 1956

hosts last Pratt family reunion in the company of Calvert, Nellie, and Florence

26 September 1956

letter to Claire Pratt [news from Toronto]

5 October 1956

postcard to Claire Pratt [news from Toronto]

9 October 1956

letter to Claire Pratt [visit from Pratt's brothers and sisters]

18 October 1956

letter to Claire Pratt [amusing story]

22 October 1956

letter to Claire Pratt [class of '26 party]

25 October 1956

attends banquet in Ottawa for old friend Lester Pearson

picks up a virus and is confined indoors for two weeks

26 October 1956

letter to Claire Pratt [news from Ottawa]

29 October 1956

letter to Claire Pratt [enclosing Lester Pearson's speech on Freedom of the Press; news from Toronto]

late Autumn 1956 to Winter 1957

enjoys period of renewed health and vigour, and takes up lawn bowling as a substitute for golf

conducts a monthly seminar at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario

12 November 1956

draft of following letter to Desmond Pacey [comments on Sutherland more outspoken]

letter to Desmond Pacey [praise for chapter on Pratt in Pacey's Ten Canadian Poets; comments on John Sutherland's interpretation of Pratt's poetry]

6 December 1956

letter to Henry W. Wells [in good health; no longer writing poetry]

1957

14 March 1957

letter to Ralph Gustafson [copyright fees for anthologized poems]

21 March 1957

letter to Ralph Gustafson [permission fee and American copyright ownership]

early May 1957

letter to Desmond Pacey [plans for trip to Fredricton]

7 May 1957

letter to A.J.M. Smith [praise for Smith's poem in CF]

receives honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of New Brunswick

mid-May 1957

letter to Desmond and Mary Pacey [letter of thanks (visit)]

25 May 1957

receives honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of Western Ontario

9 June 1957

letter to Irving Layton [note of thanks (gift copy of The Improved Binoculars)]

21 July 1957

letter to Sister Dorothy Marie Doyle [Sutherland's analysis of Pratt's poems; comments on treatment of nature in several of his poems]

15 August 1957

letter to Ralph Gustafson [meeting with Antony Delius; negotiations with Knopf and Macmillan for anthologized poems]

29 August 1957

letter to Arthur S. Bourinot [note of thanks (gift copies of Archibald Lampman's Letters to Edward William Thomson and The Letters of William Edward Thomson to Archibald Lampman)]

November 1957 to mid-January 1958

confined to bed after being stricken with tachycardia

11 November 1957

letter to Canada Council [letter of recommendation for Ralph Gustafson]

7 December 1957

letter to Earle Birney [suffering from tachycardia]

1958

publication of "A Club Inventory of Hades." Toronto Arts and Letters Club, 1958

mid-January 1958

confined to a hospital bed, then to a wheelchair after contracting neuritis which settles in his right foot

February 1958

receives a special award of one thousand dollars from the newly created Canada Council "in recognition of a lifetime of distinguished service in letters and teaching"

acts as an outside reader of manuscripts for McLelland and Stewart

2 February 1958

consults with Northrop Frye on the second edition of the Collected Poems (1958)

letter to David G. Pitt [suggestions for Here the Tides Flow]

5 February 1958

listens to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation broadcast of "A Profile of a Canadian Poet" celebrating his seventy-fifth birthday

6 February 1958

letter to Earle Birney [request for copy of Birney's "Postprandial Thanks to EJP"]

10 February 1958

letter to Watson Kirkconnell [note of thanks (gift copy of Hungarian Poetry)]

18 February 1958

letter to George Johnston [health problems]

letter to Desmond Pacey [praise for Ten Canadian Poets]

letter to David G. Pitt [suggestions and corrections for Here the Tides Flow]

20 February 1958

letter to Claude and Christine Bissell [note of congratulations (appointment to Presidency of the University of Toronto)]

26 February 1958

letter to A.J.M. Smith [praise for journal article and anthology Seven Centuries of Verse]

27 February 1958

letter to Ralph Gustafson [praise for preface to The Penguin Book of Canadian Poetry]

letter to M.M.H. MacKinnon [Tamarack Review article, self-invited guest]

28 February 1958

letter to Cécile de Banke [de Banke's autobiography Hand Over Hand]

Spring 1958

publication of "The Unromantic Moon." Canadian Author and Bookman, 34 (Spring 1958), 17

early April 1958

judges entries for essay contest sponsored by Bowater Newfoundland Limited of Corner Brook

5 April 1958

letter to Claire Pratt [Claire's mail; judging essay contest]

7 April 1958

letter to Claire Pratt [news from Toronto]

letter to Sister Dorothy Marie Doyle [answers (no longer extant) to questions for Doyle's doctoral dissertation]

19 April 1958

letter to Earle Birney [praise for essay on Pratt]

1 May 1958

records interview with Jed Adams for the radio programme "Assignment," produced by H.J. Boyle for the Canadian Boradcasting Corporation

EJP interviewed by Jed Adams

21 May 1958

letter to David G. Pitt [final selection of poems for Here the Tides Flow]

14 June 1958

letter to John Gray [royalty cheque; Poems for Upper School 1958-59]

17 June 1958

letter to Arthur S. Bourinot [note of thanks (gift copy of The Mermaid Inn)]

Summer 1958

able to walk outdoors with a cane

25 June 1958

letter to John Gray [inclusion of "Newfoundland Seamen" in Collected Poems (1958)]

18 August 1958

celebrates fortieth wedding anniversary

November 1958

publication of Collected Poems. Toronto: Macmillan, 1958:

publication of The Titanic. Poems for Upper School 1958-59 (1958), 26-66

19 November 1958

attends a launching party hosted by Macmillan for the second edition of Collected Poems (1958) and receives a royalty cheque for the sale of the sixteen thousand copies of the first edition

7 December 1958

honoured at a "Salute to the Arts" banquet sponsored by the Canadian Club of Toronto at the Concert Hall of the Royal York Hotel, with A.Y. Jackson and Healey Willan; receives congratulatory message from British Poet Laureate John Masfield

programme for "Salute to the Arts"

photograph of A.Y. Jackson, Leonard J. Brockington (Rector of Queen's University), Healey Willan, and EJP

tribute to EJP by Leonard J. Brockington

1959

publication of "The Truant." Broadside: n.p., 1959. Pratt Collection

Winter 1959

confined to a wheelchair after recurrence of neuritic and arthritic ailments

26 January 1959

autographs copies of Collected Poems at Macmillan's; informed that about 1,000 sold

2 February 1959

letter to David G. Pitt [selection of Newfoundland poems for Here the Tides Flow]

8 February 1959

letter to Watson Kirkconnell [note of thanks (Christmas greetings)]

16 February 1959

hears from Leonard Brockington that John Masefield has requested two copies of Collected Poems

17 February 1959

autographs two copies of Collected Poems (1958) for John Masefield; receives a leather-bound copy from Macmillan's

20 February 1959

letter to John Masefield [not available]

5 March 1959

letter to M.M.H. and Elizabeth MacKinnon [praise for 'Critically Speaking']

12 March 1959

Clyde Gilmour sends EJP a copy of "A Night to Remember," which ends with the conclusion of The Titanic

Sister Marie Doyle sends EJP a copy of her doctoral dissertation, "The Poetic Imagery of Edwin John Pratt"

19 March 1959

letter to George Johnston [planned meeting in Toronto]

letter to Sister Dorothy Marie Doyle [praise for her doctoral dissertation "The Poetic Imagery of Edwin John Pratt"]

30 March 1959

letter to Claire Pratt [Claire's holiday; general news]

1 April 1959

letter to Claire Pratt [contract for Collected Poems (1958)]

20 April 1959

attends reading of The Titanic at Parliament St. Library; speaks about Marconi

late June to early July 1959

writes "Landfall Ahead," commissioned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, to commemorate the visit to Canada of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, to be read during a broadcast marking the Royal departure

EJP comments on the writing of "Landfall Ahead" (30 June 1960) [1:12; 786Kb]

13 June 1959

Lorne Pierce brings material for poem on Royal Visit, "Landfall Ahead," which has been commissioned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

3 July 1959

working on "Landfall Ahead"

4 July 1959

meets with Leonard Brockingdon to discuss "Landfall Ahead"

23 July 1959

supervises recording of "Landfall Ahead" at Canadian Broadcasting Corporation studio

1 August 1959

radio broadcast of "Landfall Ahead" by Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, read by John Drainie, introduced by Leonard Brockington; issued by Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Information Services, August 1959

29 August 1959

begins to write out "Landfall Ahead" in longhand

15 September 1959

receives cheque from Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for "Landfall Ahead"

late September 1959

attends McClelland and Stewart's launching party for Irving Layton's Red Carpet for the Sun

21 October 1959

speaks at installation of Northrop Frye as Principal of Victoria College

24 November 1959

receives Civic Award of Merit from the Mayor and Council of the City of Toronto; introduced by Mayor as Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons; proceedings televised

invitation to Civic Award ceremony

EJP recalls presentation of the Civic Award of Merit (30 June 1960) [0:49; 530Kb]

2 December 1959

letter to Claude and Christine Bissell [note of thanks (note of congratulations)]

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