"I have been trying to forge that bridge between humanity and nature for most of my creative life.” (Sid Marty)
On Thursday, November 7, Sid Marty joined Chic Scott for a Fireside Chat. Poet, prose writer and musician, at 80 years of age Sid has become an iconic member of our mountain community.
Born in England in 1944, he grew up in Southern Alberta where his family had resided for four generations. In 1966 he went east to Sir George Williams (now Concordia) University in Montreal to study English literature. Drawn to the beauty and wildness of the Rocky Mountains he began working as a seasonal warden with Parks Canada that same year. He published his first poems in 1966 but soon he abandoned his career in English literature to pursue the National Park Warden path.
Although it has been a challenging path at times, over the last fifty years Sid has managed to combine his passion for wild places and his love for words. His career with Parks ended in 1978 with publication of “Men for the Mountains”, but he has continued to write about the mountains he loves so well. His website says, “His books are about family, rangers, cowboys, homesteaders, forest fires, grizzly bears, love, death, mountaineers and wildlife conservation.”
Sid has published five books of poetry and five books of non fiction. He has twice been short listed for the Governor General’s Award and has won the Grand Prize at the Banff Mountain Book Festival. His latest book, Oldman’s River, New and Collected Poems (2023) was awarded the inaugural Al and Eurithe Purdy Poetry Prize. A fine musician with a beautiful singing voice he has also recorded two CDs of original music. Perhaps he will sing a song or two for us on Thursday evening.
Since 1981 Sid and his wife Myrna have lived on a small ranch in the Livingstone Range in south west Alberta. He is a powerful advocate for wilderness conservation and is still writing poetry. Sid Marty is a story teller par excellence with a full life of experience to draw on and this chat will be a very special evening.
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