Early Life
Born at Hythe, Kent, England in 1903, Raddall was the son of British army officer Thomas Head Raddall and Ellen (née Gifford) Raddall. In 1913, he and his family moved to Nova Scotia, where his father had assumed a training position with the Canadian Militia. When World War I began, the elder Raddall joined the war effort. He was killed in action in August 1918 at Amiens when Thomas was still a youth.
In Halifax, Raddall attended Chebucto School until 6 December 1917, when the school was converted into a temporary morgue in the wake of the Halifax Explosion. The Raddall family survived the explosion, and Raddall wrote about his experiences in his memoirs, In My Time.
Raddall's first job was as a wireless operator on seagoing ships (including the famous cable ship CS Mackay-Bennett), and at isolated wireless posts such as Sable Island. He later took a job as a clerk at a pulp and paper mill in Liverpool, Nova Scotia, where he began his writing career. Raddall was a prolific, award-winning writer. He received Governor General's Awards for three of his books, The Pied Piper of Dipper Creek (1943), Halifax, Warden of the North (1948) and The Path of Destiny (1957). In 1971, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Read more about this topic: Thomas Head Raddall
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or life:
“Although good early childhood programs can benefit all children, they are not a quick fix for all of society’s ills—from crime in the streets to adolescent pregnancy, from school failure to unemployment. We must emphasize that good quality early childhood programs can help change the social and educational outcomes for many children, but they are not a panacea; they cannot ameliorate the effects of all harmful social and psychological environments.”
—Barbara Bowman (20th century)
“The vast silence of Buddha overtakes
and overrules the oncoming roar
of tragic life that fills alleys and avenues;
it blocks the way of pedicabs, police, convoys.”
—Denise Levertov (b. 1923)