Patrick Lane (1939–2019)
Author of What the Stones Remember: A Life Rediscovered
About the Author
Patrick Lane was born in Nelson, British Columbia, Canada on March 26, 1939. He wrote more than 20 collections of poetry as well as novels and nonfiction books. His first collection of poetry, Letters from a Savage Mind, was published in 1966. His other poetry collections included Separations, show more Beware the Months of Fire, Winter and Mortal Remains, The Collected Poems of Patrick Lane, and No Longer Two People written with his wife Lorna Crozier. Poems, New and Selected received the Governor General's Literary Award for poetry in 1978 and Too Spare, Too Fierce received the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize in 1995. His novels included Red Dog, Red Dog and Deep River Night. His memoir There Is a Season received the Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence and B.C. Award for Canadian Nonfiction. He was made an officer of the Order of Canada in 2014 for his vast and accomplished body of work. He died of a heart attack on March 7, 2019 at the age of 79. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: patricklane.ca
Works by Patrick Lane
Letters from the savage mind 1 copy
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Lane, Patrick
- Birthdate
- 1939-03-26
- Date of death
- 2019-03-07
- Gender
- male
- Occupations
- writer-in-residence
academic
sawmill worker
choker
truck driver - Awards and honors
- Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence (2007)
- Relationships
- Crozier, Lorna (wife)
Lane, Red (brother) - Short biography
- Patrick has lived and traveled extensively around the world, and has been published in many countries. He has been Writer-in-Residence and teacher at a number of educational institutions, including Concordia University in Montreal and the University of Victoria and Toronto. Lane lives on Vancouver Island with his wife, the poet Lorna Crozier. In 2000, he confronted a choice: he could continue drinking and expect to die, or he could quit and live. He went into rehab and for a year, he stayed close to home, gardening and slowly rediscovering himself by searching among his memories for the root of his addiction. "There is a Season" is his memoir of this journey back.
- Nationality
- Canada
- Birthplace
- Nelson, British Columbia, Canada
- Places of residence
- Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Saanichton, British Columbia, Canada
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada - Associated Place (for map)
- British Columbia, Canada
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Reviews
A gardener's profound internal musings, beautifully rendered, but mixed with traumatic childhood memories. The book chapters roughly follow a calendar year in Patrick Lane's garden as he recovers from decades of alcohol and drug abuse. The recovery aspect weaves throughout the lovely language, but I would by no means call this a book about recovery. Yet I suppose that for someone in recovery, those threads might stand out. I love gardening, lived in the Pacific Northwest, and I love words. show more If any of those describe you, you might like this memoir.
However, the nuggets of horror come unannounced, so it can make for sub-optimal bedtime reading. show less
However, the nuggets of horror come unannounced, so it can make for sub-optimal bedtime reading. show less
I might have given this book 5 stars, but for the fact that one of two of the essays didn't hold up against the undeniably terrific ones. Almost all are wrenching and brutally candid. David Adams Richards piece, simply entitled "Drinking" is worth the price of the book. Patrick Lane's "Counting the Bones", Molly Jong-Fast's "Junkie Grows Up" and Lois Simmie's "An Open Letter to Laura" might be required reading for anyone thinking about recovery. Stephen Reid's "Junkie", the last essay in the show more book is scalding and terrible, and all the more so since as recently as 2011 Reid was back in the throes of his addiction, and back in the slammer. One essay sounds as though it's steeped in the author's denial, and although it's ironically tragic, it also struck an off-key note for me. I won't mention which essay I think that is, but will allow readers to make their own conclusions.
All in all, a solid anthology for those of us who take comfort in knowing we are not alone in our struggles with addiction. The essays which indicate the authors are now in healthy recovery offer hope, while the others act as cautionary tales. show less
All in all, a solid anthology for those of us who take comfort in knowing we are not alone in our struggles with addiction. The essays which indicate the authors are now in healthy recovery offer hope, while the others act as cautionary tales. show less
This was a Goodreads Giveaway. 3.5 stars. Overall - I enjoyed reading this book. I found the prose beautiful and would recommend it for that alone. As for the story - it was interesting but dark. It is a relatively slow - moving book with lots of description. I especially appreciated all the passages describing the natural landscape. I would recommend this book if you enjoy reading poetry and are more interested in the beauty of language than a fast-paced read.
This is the story of the Stark family: brothers Eddy and Tom, their parents, and three sisters who died as children. It unfolds over a week, but plenty of back story is provided to put the current situation in context.
The writing is absolutely beautiful. But, all in all, this book was a disappointment. There are far too many peripheral characters who are not well developed. While the story picks up near the end as it focuses more on the main characters, it still left me unsatisfied.
The writing is absolutely beautiful. But, all in all, this book was a disappointment. There are far too many peripheral characters who are not well developed. While the story picks up near the end as it focuses more on the main characters, it still left me unsatisfied.
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Statistics
- Works
- 33
- Also by
- 1
- Members
- 480
- Popularity
- #51,407
- Rating
- 3.5
- Reviews
- 16
- ISBNs
- 61
- Languages
- 1
- Favorited
- 2