Line Breaks: A Writing Life by George Galt
A Non-Fiction Review by Michael Greenstein
In one of the many fascinating anecdotes in his delightful memoir, Line Breaks, George Galt quotes Doug Fetherling who quips that he is able to trace his lineage all the way back to his father. Galt, however, is able to go back several generations in his illustrious ancestry in a self-deprecating autobiography. His “Family Ties and School Days” begins with the snowy winter of 1954 in Montreal. His father had signed up with the RCAF in 1942. “His mother’s father and grandfather had been army officers, as was her brother, my father’s uncle Bertie, who had died long before my father was born but remained powerfully alive in family lore.” Galt’s lore forms a significant part of his writing life. The family moved into a small semi-detached house in the Town of Mount Royal where he spent his first ten years.
His father worked for Sun Life Insurance where his mathematical talents served him well, and where his son picked up some of the local lore that fills this book. Touring the vast building with his father, young George understands the lessons in hyphenated adjectives characteristic of his style: “The not-so-subtle moral of this show-and-tell moment was that hard work and determination could yield excellent results.” Line Breaks is “a series of accidental transits” between Montreal and Victoria, between family bonds and personal freedom, and between careers in editing and writing about such memorable characters as Al Purdy, Margaret Atwood, Pierre Burton, Pierre Trudeau, and Peter Ustinov.
One of Galt’s ancestors, John Galt, was the Scottish novelist who founded the Ontario city of Guelph. When he returned to England from Canada, he was arrested and spent four months in debtors’ prison. Each of his three sons compensated for his failure by becoming successful members of the Canadian bourgeoisie. George Galt’s father was a strict follower of Christian Science, which became a source of friction between father and son. So too did Galt’s schooling in Quebec. Little wonder that he felt the need to leave Montreal, so he heads east for the island of Saint-Pierre where he meets a liberated Larry Zolf.
He also befriends Al Purdy who becomes a father figure to the younger writer who rejects his own father’s tough-minded political and economic conservatism. “In sharp contrast, Al cheered me on, read the manuscript of my first book, gave me editorial advice, and wished me luck in the mad scramble for money that most writers face.” Occasionally there would be arguments in their heavy-drinking meetings.
The author also outlines his time spent working for Saturday Night with Robert Fulford as editor, followed by John Fraser. Of all the characters in Line Breaks, Peter Ustinov stands out for his witty stories. Jonathan Miller also makes an appearance among the many luminaries, including Atwood, Trudeau, Zolf, and George Woodcock. With the breeze of journalese Galt presents his writing life and an awareness of his good fortune: “In life’s pyramid of chance, I must rank somewhere near the lucky top compared to all the other humans on the planet.” Climb that pyramid with Galt for an overview of the past century and a rewarding read. He concludes his book with a poem, “My Friend Al Purdy”: “he did love to fly / high above all the world’s misdeeds / listening to the eerie harmony below.” Galt shares his friendships with his readers, and we are grateful for his generosity.
About the Author
George Galt, who grew up in Quebec, and attended schools in Montreal and the Eastern Townships, has degrees from Concordia University and the University of Toronto. He began publishing poetry in literary magazines in the 1970s, became a freelance journalist, editor, and author based in Toronto, wrote Whistlestop-chronicling four months of travel across Canada- as well as Trailing Pythagoras, an account of his half-year living in Greece, and a novel, Scribes and Scoundrels, that offers a comic look at mass media. He now lives in Victoria, B.C., where in 2022 he founded the literary press Stonehewer Books.
About the Reviewer
Michael Greenstein is a retired professor of English (Université de Sherbrooke). He is the author of Third Solitudes: Tradition and Discontinuity in Jewish-Canadian Literature and has published widely on Victorian, Canadian, and American-Jewish literature.
Book Details
Publisher : Linda Leith Publishing (Aug. 22 2024)
Language : English
Paperback : 190 pages
ISBN-10 : 1773901567
ISBN-13 : 978-1773901565