Requiem for a Heavyweight

Rob(ert) Allen, my dear friend, mentor and fellow Montreal writer, was, as I have said elsewhere, one of the great Canadian writers of our time. He was not as well known as Atwood or Carson, but his poetry stands comparison; and his prose is equally brilliant. I am certain that his work will enter the Canadian canon within the next decade, as its full range is reckoned. In terms of wit, erudition, and elegance, he had few peers. His writing belongs on the same shelf as The Third Policeman or Aberation of Starlight, or Gravity's Rainbow.

Today, Canada's national newspaper of note has run an obituary that gives some sense of the man we love and miss still.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070208.OBALLEN08/TPStory/Obituaries

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E Y E W E A R, THE BLOG - FREEDOM MEANS BEING UNAFRAID TO WRITE WHAT YOU THINK

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