In Line Breaks, George Galt reflects on the past. He acknowledges that “lives are accidental in more ways than many of us are ready to admit” and perceives the course of his own life as “a series of accidental transits.” Now in his mid-seventies, Galt avows that he was not “an ambitious life planner” or “a lifelong journalist” and refuses to inflate the years he laboured as a writer and editor into a career. I admire Galt’s candour. After perusing his appealing narrative, readers are likely to feel a similar appreciation.
In reviewing his writing life, Galt considers his origins. He was born in Winnipeg in 1948 to parents who were devout Christian Scientists. When he was an infant, the family moved to Montreal, and he spent his first ten years in the Town of Mount Royal, where he attended public school. His mother was a homemaker, and his father was employed by Sun Life. Thomas Galt was president from 1972 to 1978; he and his wife relocated with the firm to...
Ruth Panofsky teaches English literature at Toronto Metropolitan University. She recently received the Royal Society of Canada’s Lorne Pierce Medal.
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