Geoffrey Bilson
Welsh Canadian academic and author
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Geoffrey Bilson (27 January 1938 – 25 July 1987) was a Welsh Canadian academic and author. Between 1964 and 1987, Bilson worked for the University of Saskatchewan in their history department as a professor. During this time period, Bilson primarily released children's books while also publishing non-fiction books. Some of the topics that Bilson wrote about include the Boston Massacre, cholera and the Winnipeg general strike. Following his 1987 death, his non-fiction book titled The Guest Children was released in 1988. The following year, the Geoffrey Bilson Award was first presented by the Canadian Children's Book Centre.
- Academic
- professor
- author
Geoffrey Bilson | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 27, 1938 Cardiff, Wales |
| Died | July 25, 1987 (aged 49) Saskatoon, Canada |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1964–1987 (Academic tenure) |
| Children | 2 |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | Aberystwyth University University of Omaha Stanford University |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | History |
| Institutions | University of Saskatchewan |
| Main interests | North American historical events, cholera, immigrant healthcare, The Guest Children (child evacuees) |
| Notable works | A Darkened House: Cholera in 19th Century Canada (1980), Goodbye Sarah (1981), Death Over Montreal (1982), Hockeybat Harris (1984), The Guest Children (1988, posthumous) |
Early life and education
Bilson's birth occurred at Cardiff, Wales, on 27 January 1938.[1] During his childhood, Bilson lived in Liverpool.[2] After he became interested in journalism, Bilson worked in newspaper publishing and editing while completing his education.[3] For his post-secondary education, Bilson first attended Aberystwyth University. Throughout the 1960s to 1970s, Bilson also went to the University of Omaha and Stanford University.[4] While at Omaha during 1961, the University of California, Berkeley, gave Bilson a graduate assistant position.[5]
Career
Academics and publications
During his tenure between 1964 and 1987, Bilson worked at the University of Saskatchewan as a professor. For his academic career, Bilson focused on historical events throughout North America.[6][1] While at Saskatchewan, his articles about cholera were released in the 1970s and 1980s.[7][8] For a 1984 book by Charles G. Roland, Bilson wrote about Canadian healthcare for immigrants.[4] The following year, Bilson's journal article on Frederick Montizambert was published.[9] Bilson had continued studying healthcare for immigrants before he died in 1987.[4]
Writings
As a writer, Bilson had a book in 1977 about the 1770 Boston Massacre.[10][11] Bilson's book, A Darkened House: Cholera in 19th Century Canada, was made available in 1980.[12] When his kids left the country for a vacation, Bilson decided to become a children's author. His first two written books for children were released out of order.[13] In 1981, Bilson's first published book for children was Goodbye Sarah.[14] After Bilson converted his 1919 Winnipeg general strike work into a stage production, Goodbye Sarah was performed in 1984.[15]
In 1982, Bilson continued his children's writings with Death Over Montreal.[16] To make the book, Bilson used his previous research he performed for A Darkened House.[17] In Death Over Montreal, Bilson wrote about a Scottish family experiencing cholera after moving to Canada.[18] With his 1984 children's work titled Hockeybat Harris, Bilson wrote about a Guest Child who moved from Great Britain to live in Canada during World War II.[19] In the late 1980s, Bilson had begun writing a children's book about "a sort of conventional child who wants things to go right".[20] Bilson's non-fiction book, The Guest Children: The Story of the British Child Evacuees Sent to Canada during World War II, was posthumously released in 1988.[1][21]
Writing style and themes
While raising a family, Bilson used ideas provided by his children to create bedtime stories.[22][13] To create his children's books, Bilson handwrote his manuscripts before he typed them up. During the editing stage, he wrote on his physical copies.[22] For his children's books, Bilson used "lesser-known...events and showed how they influenced the lives of young teenagers."[23]
Bilson wrote the draft of his cholera book for children under the title of Yellow Flags in Montreal. The title was changed to Death Over Montreal after a book with a similar name was released before Bilson's book.[24] In his written draft, Bilson "wanted both parents to die from cholera" in the book. He later edited his book to only include the death of the main character's father.[17] To create The Guest Children, Bilson conducted interviews with fourteen former Guest Children and incorporated their recollections. He also added the background of the Overseas Reception Board project for the book.[25]
Death and personal life
Prior to his death, Bilson was experiencing brain cancer.[4] He had two children during his marriage. On 25 July 1987, Bilson's death occurred in Saskatoon.[11]
Honours
A year after his death, the Canadian Children's Book Centre began presenting the Geoffrey Bilson Award.[26] During the early 1990s, the Geoffrey Bilson Memorial Lecture was created.[27] Leading up to the 2020s, some of the scheduled speakers for the Saskatchewan lecture included Janet Lunn and Bathsheba Demuth.[28][29]