April 21st is National Al Purdy Day
Visit: www.alpurdy.ca
So we built a house, my wife and I
our house at a backwater puddle of a lake
near Ameliasburgh, Ont.
–Al Purdy “In Search of Owen Roblin”
And that A-frame house, made out of second-hand lumber and original poetry, became the most famous writer’s house in the country. Hundreds of writers and their housemates found their way to Roblin Lake to visit the Purdys and talk about poetry and history while downing beer or wild grape wine. Coleridge and his friends had their lake country, and now the Canadian poets would have theirs. A lot of poetry and prose came out of that hard-to-find place.
To prevent its second-hand wood from ending up on someone’s scrap heap, and with the blessing and support of Eurithe Purdy, The Purdy A-frame Trust is raising funds to purchase and preserve the property, create an endowment and establish a poet-in-residence program.
YOU CAN HELP
- Throw a party to help raise funds. Make it potluck-be sure to include some hamburger meat and beer.
- Invite a group of friends to your local pub, raise a glass to Al and have everyone contribute what they can.
- Have a prize for the best Al impersonation-everybody does one. Or the best Al costume, yikes!
Contributions of $50 or more will receive a tax receipt. For more information, to discuss ideas to for planning assistance contact:
Jean Baird jeanbaird@shaw.ca
604 224 4898
“What I like about the current effort to maintain the Purdy residence is that it is not intended to become some kind of a museum. Instead it will become an active present day writer’s residency. I love this double stroke of preserving our past while seeding our future.”-Robert Priest, poet, lyricist
