Arthur BURT

BURT _ Arthur Harvey (8 May 1920 - 27 December 2003) A resident of North Vancouver from birth, Harvey was a teacher both by profession and by nature. After serving in the air force in World War II _ although not overseas ("I fought Hitler in Saint Thomas, Ontario") _ he became a teacher of high-school French and English, eventually settling in at Burnaby Central Secondary School until he retired in 1980. In 1942 he married Muriel Atkinson, to whom was born his daughter Christine. In 1959 he was married again, in Europe, to Dorothy Patterson, who remained his wife until her death in 2000. A crucial relationship in Harvey's life was his brief but close friendship with the great novelist Malcolm Lowry, who lived as a squatter two shacks down from Harvey and Dorothy on the beach of what is now Cates Park. After Lowry's death in 1957, Harvey became a key resource for scholars worldwide, was quoted in many critical works, and appeared in Donald Brittain's 1976 film, Volcano: an Inquiry into the Life and Death of Malcolm Lowry. Harvey was a writer himself, author of two radio plays produced by the CBC in the 1950s, including Green Grist, a drama about Shakespeare's colleague, Christopher Marlowe. A passionate devotee and patron of the arts generally, especially music, Harvey supported the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the Vancouver Opera Society, among other organizations. In 1993 he commissioned a new work, Eridanus, from composer Michael Conway Baker in honor of Lowry. He gave generously to other causes as well, and to individuals. But those close to Harvey knew him as more than a philanthropist. He was a birdwatcher, a dog-lover, a voracious reader, a sonorous speaker, a patient explainer, an excellent storyteller, a concerned citizen, a puppeteer, an environmentalist, a social critic, a political activist, a sailor of dinghies, a director of school plays, a collector of discarded objects, a loyal and steadfast friend, and a walking encyclopedia of local history, nature, and lore _ among other things. A self-declared sensualist, he could be enchanted by the scent of alder buds or the music of Shostakovich. He loved satire, tomfoolery, and delighting children. He lived simply in his cottage on the shore of Cove Cliff, and died rather suddenly on December 27 in Nanaimo of heart failure. He was predeceased by his first wife Muriel (1996), his second wife Dorothy, his sisters Hazel Hanson (1983) and Mary ("Cece") Miller (1999), and is survived by his daughter Christine Burt, granddaughter Mira Burt-Wintonick, half-sisters Kathy MacLennan and Leila Crozier, his nephews and nieces, and his many fond friends. A memorial service will be held at Boal Chapel, 1505 Lillooet Rd., North Vancouver, on Wednesday, January 14, at 2 p.m. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Lions Gate Hospital Foundation at 231 E. 15th St., North Vancouver, BC, V7L 2L7, or via their website at www.lghfoundation.com.