THE PASSIONATE PILGRIM BY: WILL. R. BIRD

FEATURES: THE PASSIONATE PILGRIM   BY: WILL. R. BIRD

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A) CONDITION BOOK: VERY GOOD - HARD BOUND

B) CONDITION DUST JACKET: ABSENT

C) FIRST EDITION - FIRST PRINTING - THE RYERSON PRESS PUBLISHERS 1949

D) NOTE:  STRONGLY IDENTIFIED WITH NOTES THE EAST SEAS TO CANADA BIRD WAS A PROLIFIC WRITER OF FICTION AND NON-FICTION.  FLAT SIGNED BY WILL R. BIRD ON THE FRONT FREE ENDPAPER.  MINOR CHIPPING AT TOP + BASE OF SPINE.   324 PAGES.

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BOOK GRADING CATEGORIES:

FINE

VERY GOOD

GOOD

FAIR

POOR
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About:

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William Richard Bird (May 11, 1891 – 1984) was a Canadian writer, author of fifteen novels, two memoirs, six history books and three travel books. He was born in rural East Mapleton, Nova Scotia, son of Augusta Bird, a school teacher in East Mapleton and Stephen Bird. A few years later his mother was left a widow with two stepsons and three sons as his father died of pneumonia. As he became a teenager, the family moved to the nearby town of Amherst, where his mother began running a boarding house. The family at this time was in need of money, so Will and his brother were unable to complete school. By the time he was twenty-three he decided to go to Alberta and work on the harvest to earn money. This was the case for many men from the East who were recruited to harvest crops on the prairies (see Harvest excursion).

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Soon afterwards, war broke out in Europe and Will's youngest brother, Stephen, was enlisted, only to be killed in France a year afterward. Bird had volunteered for service overseas at the same time as his brother, but was rejected due to his poor teeth. Will Bird returned home to Nova Scotia, wanting to take up his brother's place in the military, and he enlisted immediately. By this point in the war, the Canadian Expeditionary Force's standards for dental health had been lowered; although Bird was required to have some teeth removed in Britain before being sent to the front in France.^[1] 

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He served in France and Belgium at the front for two years with the Canadian Expeditionary Force (42nd Battalion (Royal Highlanders of Canada), CEF). His time in the war impacted his life as a writer as his war experiences were constantly a part of his stories. One of his finest works,^[2] And We Go On (1930) documents his time in France. Another book, Ghosts Have Warm Hands recounts his experiences during the war and his emotional connection to his brother, Stephen, who was killed in action before Bird was allowed to volunteer for service.^[3]

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