Selwyn Dewdney - Last Years

Last Years

In 1978, he published his second novel, Christopher Breton. He died on November 18, 1979, following heart surgery. In 1980, two stands of white pine were planted at Agawa Bay in Lake Superior Provincial Park by the Ministry of Natural Resources to honor his memory. A plaque erected by the family stands against the Shield rock he loved so much, a few meters away from the Ojibway pictograph Mishibizhiw, the great horned lynx. In 1997, his son, A.K. Dewdney, published 'Daylight in the Swamp, based on Dewdney's bush diary, field notes and letters. Selwyn was working on the original manuscript for the book at the time of his death. In the preface to the book, the author explains that the night following his father's funeral, he felt his presence which inspired him to complete his father's work. The term 'daylight in the swamp' refers to a call to loggers after breakfast was eaten to start the men into the woods to work.