Carl Frederick Klinck

Klinck, Carl Frederick

Carl Frederick Klinck, literary historian, educator (b at Elmira, Ont 24 Mar 1908; d at London, Ont 22 Oct 1990). Klinck helped make CANADIAN STUDIES a central part of the curriculum: his Canadian Anthology (edited with R.E. Watters, 1955, 1974) established a canon of poetry, short fiction and critical essays. A graduate of Waterloo College (University of Western Ontario) and Columbia, Klinck taught Canadian works in a continental context. Introductions to Frances BROOKE'sThe History of Emily Montague (1961), Susanna MOODIE'sROUGHING IT IN THE BUSH (1962) and John RICHARDSON's WACOUSTA (1967) stirred interest in early Canadian novels. Perceptive and historically searching articles, and book-length studies of W.W. CAMPBELL (1943), E.J. PRATT (1947), "Tiger"DUNLOP (1958) and Robert SERVICE (1976) were capped by his integrative work as general editor of The Literary History of Canada (1965, 1976). He was a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and an Officer of the Order of Canada. The posthumous publication Giving Canada a Literary History (1991), edited by Sandra Djwa, encapsulated his influential ideas and activities.