WADDINGTON, Miriam 1917-2004
(E. B. Merritt)

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born December 23, 1917, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; died March 3, 2004, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Social worker, educator, and author. Waddington was a prize-winning poet who, as part of the "first generation" movement, helped steer Canada literature away from its European influences. Completing her undergraduate work at the University of Toronto in 1939, she earned a diploma in social work there in 1942, followed by a master's in 1945; she would later return to the University of Toronto to receive an M.A. in 1968. Waddington's career began in the 1940s as a social worker, first as assistant director for the Jewish Child Welfare Bureau in Montreal, then as an instructor at McGill University's School of Social Work. In the early 1950s, she was on staff at Montreal Children's Hospital for two years, followed by three years at the John Howard Society and three more years at the Jewish Family Bureau in Montreal. After working as a casework supervisor for North York Family Service in Toronto from 1960 to 1962, Waddington's success as a writer led her to York University, where she taught English and Canadian literature from 1964 until her retirement as professor emerita in 1983. As a poet, Waddington drew on her Russian-Jewish family background and her experiences growing up on the Canadian prairies. Her interest in social work also influenced her subject matter, and she wrote on subjects ranging from poverty to motherhood. But it was her exploration of themes about the Canadian experience that lent her verses distinction, making them an important part of Canada's search for its own literary voice. She published twelve poetry collections in her lifetime, including Green World (1945), The Glass Trumpet (1966), The Price of Gold (1976), and The Last Landscape (1992); Driving Home: Poems New and Selected (1972) and Collected Poems (1986) both received the J. I Segal award. Waddington also penned short stories and was the editor or author of a number of essay, criticism, and story collections; some of her writings were published under the pseudonym E. B. Merritt. Her poetic skills received another honor when a stanza from her "Jacques Cartier" was selected to be reproduced on Canada's one hundred dollar bill.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

BOOKS

Contemporary Poets, seventh edition, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 2001.

PERIODICALS

Globe & Mail, March 6, 2004.

ONLINE

BC Book World,http://www.abcbookworld.com/ (May 28, 2004).