a

 GUEVREMONT

STAND CORNER

AND

_ SERVICE STAMP ISSUES

DELAYED

The ‘Canada Post Office
has announced that the

‘release «of the stamps

commemorating . the
literary achievements: of
Germaine Guevremont and
Robert W.__ Service,
scheduled for July 14, has

been postponed until August

Release of ‘the Robert

. Service stamp has - been

delayed to coincide with the
official historical Discovery

Day, in Dawson City. The

Guevremont stamp will be
launched in Sorel, Quebec.

Postmaster General
Bryce Mackasey said, ‘‘We
are-very happy to meet the
wishes of the. people of the
Yukon and work together
with them in making this a
truly. historical occasion.”

ROBERT W. SERVICE

Robert Service was born
in England in 1874, but spent
most of his childhood in
Scotland. The household in
which -he. was raised en-
couraged literary pursuits
and Service recalled, ‘To
my folks anything that
rhymed was poetry...”
Giving in to his strong desire
to roam, young Robert came
to Canada in 1894 and
worked for a while on the
West Coast as a farmhand.
After’ several years as a
rover (he described himself

as a born tramp) Service -
. joined a bank which posted

him to Whitehorse and later

‘jo Dawson. <«°

The Whitehorse: period

“was one of his happiest.
_ Since he had a talent for

singing and reciting, he
became an amateur en-

_ tertainer. When a church

invited him to: perfor:s:, he
penned something original,
The Shooting of ‘Dan
McGrew. ‘“‘McGrew’’ was
too raucous for the church,

so. Service put the poem

away ina drawer. However,
he continued: to. write as a

_ diversion and produced The

Cremation ! of Sam McGee

| after hearing a miner’s tall

tale. In 1907, the poet

- published the drawer’s by
- then considerable. contents

as Songs of a Sourdough,

- and he received such ac-
claim that he . planned

another book. He conducted
his research by wandering

around Dawson late. at night .
*. to soak up the atmosphere

and by interviewing the
veterans of “98”.. Then,
having ‘'...blasted

' out...rhymes with grim

determination,’’ he
repeated. the earlier

- triumph with’ Ballads. of a
“Gheechako. After. leaving
- the
..- travelled, reported for. a
‘. Newspaper, “served in the
. war, and finally settled -
ht quietly ‘in’ France. He. died:

“there in 1958, while writing a:
. poem on-longevity.
“The stamp: honouring:
. Robért Service features an.
-, oil painting of Sam: McGee

Yukon, | Service

“"< “py “David: Bierk. of Peter-,

= borough, “Ontario. The
‘ closing. scene. of the poem, |

The . Cremation: of Sam

’: McGee is depicted:: ©: .

“and there sat Sam, looking

cool and clam; in the heart ©

of the furnace roar;

And he wore a smile you
could see a mile, and he
said:
door.
It’s fine in here, but I
greatly fear you'll let in the

eold and storm—
Since I left Plumtree in.
-Tennessee, it’s the first time.

I've been warm,” ~

_.. GERMAINE

GUEVREMONT =
Germaine | Guevremont,

nee Grignon, was born in the
Laurentian town of St-
-Jerome at the turn of. the
century, into a family with
an established literary
reputation. Her father, a
lawyer whose pastime was
extolling his ‘beloved
mountainous:

named protonotary at Ste-

- Scholastique shortly after

Germaine’s birth, and there

- she spent her childhood. It.

“Please close the |

countryside
in prose and verse, was

was not until after she had
married — .;Hyacinthe
Guevreniont. and gone to
live ‘with him in Sorel, that’

. she.came to know and love

the flat meadows and wide

' stretches of river she was to
.tecreate so vividly inher.
writings. .

Some years before. Ger-
maine's marriage, a young
reporter from the Montreal
Star, a native of Norway
who had completed his
education in China, made

‘several - visitis to Ste-.

Scholastique, . where - he .
created quite an impression.
on the villagers and even-

ually married Germaine’s
‘ older sister.

It was . this
“outlander” . brother-in-law
who, years later, influenced
Mme. Guevremont to take
up writing as a distraction
after the death of ‘a young
daughter. She began. her
career’ as... Sorel
correspondent for the
Montreal - Gazette and
reporter for Le Courrier de
Sorel. In 1935 the
Guevremont family. moved
to. Montreal.- Germaine

became ‘part of an active |-°

literary coterie, and was
asked t0 write a series of
sketches with a rural.
background for the revue.
Paysana, a task. which ef-
fectively completed ‘her
transformation; : from

[FNTERTAINMENT. THE: HERALD, Wed. Aug. 11, 1976, 11

Her second book, Le

- Survenant, 1945, was an

immensely popular success

-in Quebec, winning the Prix

Duvernay. When it ap-

peared in France, and later -
in. the United States and

Great Britain translated
‘with its sequel, Marie-
Didace, as The Outlander, :
the author’s international
reputation was established.

She subsequently won the |

Governor General’s Award
for fiction in 1950.

pack on his back, appears at
the door,
something to eat. Thus ‘the
“Survenant”’

lives for a time among the

friends arid neighbours.

When he goes away, a8 =
. suddenly as he came he - =:
leaves . them . changed.

forever. oe

Germaine n
-depicts the opening scene in

The story begins one. Le Survenant. Mr. Dumas ic

autumn evening at Chenal
du. Moine, just as the
Beauchemin family sit down

to supper.-A stranger, a.

a native of Quebec’ City. ee SS
‘where he now heads. the
- Graphic . Communications « -

Program at the University

-MARG AND JOHN RAHIER

friends, close to major

reporter to novelist.

PO HILAR MOTEL
“MASTER CHARGE = CHARGEX parities
"= (FOR RESERVATIONS TELEPHONE 564-6869

, 1737 TWENTIETH AVENUE !

‘robust young man with a of-Laval. -. -~
seeerenee . oa a
"ON HIGHWAY 16" .1737-20th AVENUE. . . *,
: 7 yeahD Ty
, 7 . colada Py (am
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FULLY MODERN. _
ELECTRIC HEATING

KITCHEN FACILITIES
COLOUR: TELEVISION

asking for °

(outlander): —
arrives unheralded, and:

Beauchemins .and:. their ae no

Antoine Dumas’ ‘painting. oe
for the stamp honouring’ - :
Guevremont

GOV'T APPROVED: = oe Ce

PRINCE GEORGE, &.c. |

The place to stay while shopping, golfing, |
holidaying, travelling through or just visiting f ©

shopping centres, etc.

. fa

BY WORT WAINER

BRrLE DANEY

LT. FLAP I'VE BEEN
VERY TOLERANT OF.
YOUR AFRO ANP

TIVE EVEN OVERLOOKED

YOUR MONOGRAMMED
SuiezT AND YOUR INLAID
YIp BELT. BUCKLE

_. Orting Festures Syndicate, inc.. ISTE. Workd rights copaiegdl.

BUT I DRAW THE LINE )]

AT RHINESTONE.
: Q ay

~ BYBOB MONTANA |

HI, JuGGIE” \—
WHAT'RE YOU
~ DOING =

JK. PAINT THE KITCHEN
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‘Vin, gerry 7M HELPING “
-| ARCHIE AND AMR. ANDREWS] .

“HELPING @ BUTYOU. ~
OON'T LOOK LIKE YOU'RE
NK DOING A THING # -

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WELL, ARCH AND HIS pap mn
SAID I COULDHELP MOST ]*

BY STAYING OUTOF THE: jf -
KITCHEN J 7)

BY DEAN TOUND AND 01M BAYWOND. -

Hy ru BET MY NEWS a
IS BIGGER! 1 .

WITH LYOIA!
RQ
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TM HAROLD SPLIT UP] |

ALL FRA WAS
1a TIDAL WAVE:
| INAGIA

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