William John KEITH

WILLIAM JOHN KEITH W.J. Keith was born on May 9, 1934 in north London. He was educated at Brentwood School, Essex, and entered Jesus College, Cambridge, in 1955 after completing National Service with the Royal Army Educational Corps. On graduation in English in 1958, he won a 'Non-Resident Fellowship' offered by the Canada Council to undertake graduate studies at the University of Toronto, where he obtained his MA in 1959 and his PhD (on Richard Jefferies, the Victorian nature-writer) in 1961. In 1966, after five years teaching at McMaster University, he was invited back to the University of Toronto, where he taught until retiring in 1995. Keith edited the University of Toronto Quarterly for nine years, and published widely on 19th and 20th century British Literature and later on Canadian Literature. His books include Richard Jefferies: A Critical Study (1965); a trilogy of books on rural literature in the United Kingdom; two books about the Canadian novelist Rudy Wiebe; Canadian Literature in English with Longman (1985), subsequently updated and enlarged with Porcupine's Quill (2006); An Independent Stance (essays 1991); and several books on John Cowper Powys with the Powys Press in England. He was also a poet, best known for Echoes in Silence (1992) and In the Beginning and Other Poems (1999). He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1979. In 1965, he married Hiroko Sato, an elementary school teacher born in Japan. They both travelled widely, including bird-watching trips on all seven continents as well as cultural tours and cruises. William passed away quietly in his sleep on July 14, 2018. A funeral service followed by a reception will be held at Holy Rosary Church, 354 St Clair Ave W, Toronto, Ontario, on Friday, July 20, 2018 at 10:00 a.m.