The autobiography of one of Canada's best loved poets "bristles with splenetic vitality" -Stephen Smith, "Quill & Quire"

Save the Al Purdy A-Frame Campaign
The Canadian League of Poets has declared a
National Al Purdy Day!
Al Purdy was born December 30, 1918, in Wooler, Ontario and died at Sidney, BC, April 21, 2000. Raised in Trenton, Ontario, he lived throughout Canada as he developed his reputation as one of Canada's greatest writers. His collections included two winners of the Governor General's Award, Cariboo Horses (1965) and Collected Poems (1986)
and other classics such as Poems for All the Annettes, In Search of Owen Roblin and Piling Blood. Later in life, he travelled widely with his wife Eurithe and settled in Ameliasburg, Ontario and Sidney, BC. In addition to his thirty-three books of poetry, he published a novel, an autobiography and nine collections of essays and correspondence. He was appointed to the Order of Canada in 1983 and the Order of Ontario in 1987. His ashes are buried in Ameliasburg at the end of Purdy Lane.

CHAPTER ONE
MORNING AND IT'S SUMMER
CHAPTER TWO
SCHOOLDAYS
CHAPTER THREE
THE IRON ROAD: PART ONE
CHAPTER FOUR
THE IRON ROAD: PART TWO
CHAPTER FIVE
PER ARDUA (ET CETERA)
CHAPTER SIX
THE TAXI BUSINESS
CHAPTER SEVEN
ON BEING A WAGE SLAVE
CHAPTER EIGHT
EUROPE
CHAPTER NINE
THE BAD TIMES
PHOTOGRAPHS
CHAPTER TEN
ANECDOTAGE
INDEX