BOOKSELLERS HAVE BEEN ALLIES FOR HISTORIANS AND AUTHORS SINCE THE BEGINNING
THE TOM THOMSON MYSTERY COMES TO A THE NEIGHBORHOOD OLD BOOK DEALER
IN 2013 IT'S INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT TO FIND A CANADIAN ARTIST HISTORIAN / BIOGRAPHER, OR COLD-CASE SLEUTH, WHO HASN'T ADOPTED THE "MURDER" EXPLANATION, FOR THE DEATH OF LANDSCAPE ARTIST, TOM THOMSON, IN ALGONQUIN PARK'S CANOE LAKE, IN JULY OF 1917. FROM 1917, ON TO THE LATE 1990'S, MOST RESEARCHERS BELIEVED IN WHAT THE CHIEF CORONER HAD RULED, THAT JULY EVENING AT CANOE LAKE. THOMSON DIED THE RESULT OF ACCIDENTAL DROWNING, WHILE TRAVERSING CANOE LAKE FROM WHERE HE HAD BEEN LODGING, IN THE TINY INHABITATION KNOWN AS MOWAT, SPECIFICALLY AT SHANNON FRASER'S MOWAT LODGE. CERTAINLY INTO THE LATE 1990'S, THOSE BELIEVING HIS DEATH WAS THE RESULT OF FOUL PLAY, WERE SERIOUSLY OUT-NUMBERED BY THOSE WHO FELT THE ARTIST HAD PROBABLY BEEN PEEING OVER THE SIDE OF THE CANOE, (AFTER TOO MUCH BOOZE) AND SIMPLY TOPPLED INTO THE WATER……HITTING HIS HEAD ON THE GUNNEL, ON THE WAY DOWN. THUS, BEING KNOCKED UNCONSCIOUS, HE HAD NO WAY OF SWIMMING OUT OF THE JAWS OF FATE.
TODAY, THERE ARE FAR MORE HISTORIANS AND RESEARCHERS, CONNECTED WITH THE THOMSON STORY, WHO ARE OF THE OPPOSITE OPINION. THE LATEST BOOKS OUT, AND ARTICLES ON THE CIRCUMSTANCES SURROUNDING HIS DEATH, POINT TO FOUL PLAY AS THE ONLY REASON, THE TALENTED ARTIST DIDN'T LIVE ON, TO PAINT MANY MORE AMAZING LANDSCAPES. YET EVEN AS THE INQUEST WAS BEING HELD, MINUS THE BODY (THOMSON HAD ALREADY BEEN BURIED BEFORE THE CORONER COULD ARRIVE FROM NORTH BAY), THERE WERE REPORTEDLY MANY IN ATTENDANCE, WHO DID NOT AGREE WITH THE OFFICIAL FINDING. THEY KNEW THOMSON AS A MORE COLORFUL, AGGRESSIVE PERSON, AND RECOGNIZED HE HAD ADVERSARIES IN THE CANOE LAKE COMMUNITY. FOR WHATEVER REASON, AND IT WAS PROBABLY ASSOCIATED WITH SMALL-COMMUNITY LOYALTIES, THE CORONER, DR. RAINEY, DIDN'T RECEIVE ONE RESPONSE WHEN HE ASKED IF ANY ONE IN THAT ROOM, HAD REASON TO CONTRADICT THE FINDINGS, AND THE THEORY OF ACCIDENTAL DROWNING. SO WHILE THERE WERE SIGNIFICANT CONCERNS, ONLY DAYS AFTER HIS DEATH, THAT THOMSON HAD BEEN MURDERED, IT WOULD BE ALMOST A DECADE BEFORE ANY OF THESE CONCERNS WERE EXPRESSED, TO SOMEONE WHO COULD TAKE IT FURTHER THAN GENERAL CONVERSATION.
WHILE WORKING ON A BIOGRAPHY OF THOMSON, WELL KNOWN CANADIAN WRITER AND RESEARCHER, BLODWEN DAVIES, BEGAN FINDING SOME DISCREPANCY IN THE STORY OF THOMSON'S FINAL HOURS. IT ACTUALLY BECAME SO GLARING, THAT THE THOUGHT PROBABLY CROSSED HER MIND, ABOUT WHY THESE RESIDENTS AND FORMER ASSOCIATES HAD NOT RAISED THE CONCERN TO THE CORONER, WHEN THEY HAD THE CHANCE. WHO WERE THESE PEOPLE PROTECTING? KEEP IN MIND, MANY IN THAT ROOM WERE CONSIDERED THOMSON'S FRIENDS. IT IS REPORTED THEY WERE MUMBLING ABOUT MURDER AMONGST THEMSELVES, MINUTES AFTER THE CORONER ENDED THE INQUEST.
DAVIES WAS SO DISTURBED BY WHAT SHE WAS HEARING, THAT SHE GATHERED UP THE CONTENT OF THE STORIES, AND APPROACHED THE ONTARIO PROVINCIAL POLICE, ASKING THEM TO RE-OPEN THE COLD CASE. AFTER A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION, THE MATTER WAS RULED A NON-STARTER. NOT FOR DAVIES, BUT AS FAR AS THE OFFICIAL PROVINCIAL STAND…..IT WAS GOING TO REMAIN AS ACCIDENTAL DROWNING. SHE WAS PRETTY MUCH AWARE THERE WERE A NUMBER OF ROAD BLOCKS BEING ERECTED TO STOP THIS FROM GAINING MOMENTUM. THIS HAS BEEN A CONTINUING ISSUE IN THE INVESTIGATION OF JUST HOW TOM THOMSON DIED. IT IS KNOWN THERE WERE HIGH RANKING PROVINCIAL OFFICIALS WHO REFUSED OUTRIGHTLY TO RE-OPEN THE CASE, EVEN THOUGH THERE WAS COMPELLING EVIDENCE OF MURDER. BUT HERE IS WHERE A BOOKSELLER ENTERS THE HISTORY BOOKS, ON THE THOMSON FILE.
DORA HOOD MEETS AUTHOR BLODWEN DAVIES
"Fame came, as everyone knows, to Sir Fredrick Banting, at a very young age," wrote Toronto Bookseller, Dora Hood, in her 1958 biography, "The Side Door - Twenty-six Years In My Book Room," published by the Ryerson Press. "With the perfecting of the discovery of insulin by him, in association with Dr. C.H. Best, he emerged from the sheltered life of the laboratory into the turmoil of publicity. When I met him this phase, so overwhelming to one of his nature, had passed and he, through his new friends, the artists of the Group of Seven had discovered another talent. He reveled in his ability to paint the wild scenery of Northern Ontario and Quebec and this led him to begin his collection of books on exploration. I believe he was happier then than at any time in his short life." (Banting was more than a proficient painter, and his works today sell for many thousands of dollars, at fine art auctions in Canada)
She notes that, "Among the friends who influenced his taste was Miss Blodwen Davies. At that time, about the early 1930's, she had won a reputation as a writer collecting material for a life of Tom Thomson, the artist who had lately met a tragic end in the northern woods. Many years after Miss Davies told me Banting had helped her theory of how Thomson met his death. Together these two interesting persons visited the Book Room. They generally came in the evening when they had plenty of time to examine the bookshelves. His taste for first editions of fur trader journals, such as Hearne was expensive, but he wisely did not deny himself this extravagance.
"He had an ambition to study and perhaps later write a paper on Indian medicine and remedies. I doubt, however, that he ever got beyond the desire. Miss Davies' interest in artists and local history led her to other shelves and between these two brilliant personalities I was kept on my toes and enjoyed my evenings. Once Banting asked me to see his collection and to give him some advice as to how he should proceed. We spent an interesting hour in his studio-study-library, and alas, that was the last time we were to meet. With the breakup of his first marriage and his home life, he ceased to collect Canadiana. Had he lived through the war I feel sure he would have returned to the interests of this happy period of his life. Dr. Lloyd Stevenson, in his biography of Banting, refers to his visits to the Book Room. Thus is this small business immortalized."
It is more than just an old rumor that Blodwen Davies was part of the marital issues at this time.
The theory that Blodwen Davies and Dr. Banting had been examining, in regards to Thomson, was that he had most likely met with foul play, and that accidental drowning could not explain all the circumstances of his mysterious disappearance at mid-day on a calm lake, on a waterway he had traversed many hundreds of times. In later years, Judge William Little would use her theory, in the 1950's, and arrange an informal (without proper permission from the Park Authority) exhumation of the allegedly empty Mowat gravesite. It has been documented that Thomson's body had been moved from the Mowat plot, to a family gravesite in Leith, Ontario, as arranged by his brother George Thomson, and Tom's girlfriend, Winnie Trainer of Huntsville. Judge Little, of course, found that the empty grave was still occupied. There were skeletal remains found in what appeared to be the same coffin that had been afforded Thomson in July 1917. The name plate hadn't been inscribed, due to the fact the funeral had occurred quickly because of the decomposition of the body. An undertaker, by the name of Churchill, had been hired to move the body, but there have been many doubts about what was in the metal shipping casket, taken from Canoe Lake by train. Most likely enough Algonquin soil to make it seem a body was inside. In the early 1970's, Judge Little wrote the book, "The Tom Thomson Mystery," based in part of the suspicions raised initially by Davies, and Banting in the 1930's. A CBC documentary was aired on the allegations made by Judge Little, and once again, Blodwen Davies was mentioned in the film, as one who had suspicions Thomson had been murdered.
Ever more books are written about Thomson and his demise, and most theories today, shine an adverse light on Mowat hotelier, Shannon Fraser, as being the one most likely to have killed Thomson. It is believed that a drunken fight broke out between the two men, at the Mowat Lodge, over an outstanding amount of money owing to Thomson, and the bigger man, Fraser, had knocked the artist to the floor, where he hit his head on a fire grate……knocking him unconscious. There is a scenario discussed amongst Thomson historians, that Fraser and his wife loaded Thomson's body in a canoe, towed it with a rowboat out into Canoe Lake after midnight, and dumped the body and set the canoe adrift. It is also suggested they had lashed a weight to his legs with fishing line, but the action of the waves on the rocks below, severed the body from the anchor. The bottom line. It's much easier to put forward the "murder" theory today, than it was in Blodwen Davies' day, when she was scorned for suggesting it, and the same held, much later for Judge Little…..yet both books today still serve as reference for a host of Thomson books.
The author of the bookseller's biography, Dora Hood, wrote, "Occasionally during my busy years in the Book Room I thought it might be worthwhile to record my experiences. But beyond keeping a brief diary for a few months of the requests of my callers, I made no effort. Two years after I retired, Mr. Stewart Wallace, who succeeded me in the business, suggested that I write a book on the subject of buying and selling Canadian books. By then I had begun to miss the stimulation and excitement of my book work and decided to try my hand at authorship. I had my letter files, and many of my old customers were still coming into the Book Room or buying by mail from the catalogues, and it was therefore not difficult to recall incidents of my former occupations. As more than one third of my life had been devoted to books and collectors it was chiefly a matter of selection, which proved quite a formidable task. Many of my collectors came to have a talk (while in Montreal) and I thoroughly enjoyed it, for I am convinced, that by and large, book collectors are among the most delightful people one can meet."
She writes, "My decision to retire came about as swiftly and easily as had my determination to be a bookseller. I was seated as usual at the large table in my office surrounded by piles of books, and was about to take up my pencil to trace the words 'Catolgue 47,' when suddenly the thought came, 'You've done this long enough. Why not do something else in what remains of your life?' The business was still flourishing, and until that moment I was conducting it with as much interest and vigor as I had from the beginning, but the incentive was now lacking. My two children were married, and I began to realize that I must seek companionship outside my house and work. I was anxious, too, to give more time to the work for the deaf. I had been partially deaf myself for many years and was intensely interested in what is now known as the Canadian Hearing Society, and had been a member of the board for some time. On my retirement I was able to act for three years as President of the Toronto Women's Auxiliary of this society.
"As I looked back over the years, I knew how fortunate I had been. Although not endowed with unlimited strength, my health had been remarkably good. I had not made a fortune but I had been free from financial crises and had no bad debts, which speaks well for book buyers as a class. i had customers all over the free world who honored me with their business and those whom I met in my office were highly intelligent and nearly all of them friendly. But like the 'folios and quartos,' there seemed no rest for the bookseller as long as his door remained open and his telephone connected."
She notes in conclusion, "All beginnings must have endings. But it seemed unthinkable and above impossible simply to bring the business to an end. I began to look for a successor. Once again, with very little effort on my part, events were favorable, and I was able to pass the business on to the one person I knew who would more than do it justice. The name has been carried on and the quarters remain the same. An old customer returning would scarcely notice any change except that now a well known and scholarly man sits at the office table. Dr. Stewart Wallace, on his retirement in 1954, after thirty years of distinguished work as Librarian of the University of Toronto, has become owner and proprietor of the Book Room."
"Never again shall I feel as pleasant a glow of accomplishment as I did in bygone years on reading such letters as - 'Dear Mrs. Hood: Last night I spent a very pleasant hour perusing your fine catalogue. I have all your catalogues and treasure them as the most important series of Canadiana offering that have been issued. I would like to purchase any of the following that are still unsold…..yours sincerely, F.C.K."
You can search for this book, by visiting the Advanced Book Exchange collective of old book dealers, and typing in the author and title. Suzanne and I buy books from the ABE with confidence, so I can heartily recommend their wonderful service to bibliophiles around the world.
In tomorrow's blog, we're headed to Paris, France, to visit two of the most historic booksellers, from the early to mid years of the 1900's. The places James Joyce and F. Scott Fitzgerald liked to hang-out. It will further enforce, why some of us get hooked on the book collecting - book selling thing. Dora Hood's departure from the business was a class act. I'd be kicking and screaming; my wife having to throw me over her shoulder, to separate this bibliophile from his enterprise.
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