Timothy Findley’s Life and Impact: What We Leave Behind

25/11/2020 19 min
Timothy Findley’s Life and Impact: What We Leave Behind

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Episode Synopsis

When we sift through an author’s collection, we tend to think big-picture. What are the overarching themes, motifs, or morals? What will be their legacy? Luckily, Timothy Findley, the Canadian author and playwright, left behind a great number of books, plays, and memoirs for us to contemplate.
Sherrill Grace, author of Findley’s biography Tiff: A Life of Timothy Findley, believes Findley’s legacy will be found in the broader messages of his work—warnings against power, violence, and oppression. Sherrill notes, “If we fail at something, Findley would have said we’ve failed our imaginations. We’ve failed to imagine that things could be different, that we’ve failed to pay attention.”
In the final episode of this series, Sherrill discusses one of Findley’s most acclaimed novels, Famous Last Words, and the often overlooked, though potent, The Telling of Lies. Sherrill also shares her hopes for the biography. Whether returning to Findley’s work or discovering it for the first time, she wants the audience to not only read Findley’s words, but listen to his cautionary tales.

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