* Alfred Wellington Purdy; Poet Captured the Common Voice of Canada

Alfred Wellington “Al” Purdy, 81, one of Canada’s greatest and most prolific poets over half a century. Known for capturing the common voice, Purdy published 33 books of poetry, a novel, nine collections of essays and an autobiography. His final work, a 652-page collection titled “Beyond Remembering,” is scheduled for publication later this year. Purdy won the Canadian Governor General’s Literary Award in 1966 for “The Cariboo Horses” and in 1986 for “Collected Poems, 1956-86.” A native of Wooler, Ontario, Purdy was a high school dropout who served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II and then became a factory worker. He self-published his first book, which even he declared “atrocious,” and achieved no fame or literary acclaim until he was 40. But colleagues came to praise him as the best English-language Canadian poet of the century, a writer who turned ordinary life--colloquial descriptions of trees, loggers, animals--into extraordinary poetry. “His was really a voice,” said poet Patrick Lane, “of the common man and the common woman.” Purdy demonstrated a self-deprecating earthy humor in such poems as “When I Sat Down to Play the Piano” and “Home-Made Beer,” but also a lyrical spirituality in such poems as “Love at Roblin Lake” and “Archaeology of Snow.” Despite his limited education, Purdy earned a following among scholars, and taught as a visiting professor at several Canadian universities. On Friday in Victoria, British Columbia, of lung cancer.