David Day (Canadian author)

David Day (born October 1947)[1] is a Canadian author and poet. He is best known for his books on J. R. R. Tolkien.[2] Day has published 46 books that have sold over 3 million copies.[3]

Early life and education

Day was born and raised in Victoria on Vancouver Island, Canada.[4] His father worked as chief fireman for area military bases.[5] Day was editor of his high school's newspaper, and also contributed high school sports columns to the Victoria Daily Times,[6] graduating from Victoria High School in 1966.[7]

After finishing high school, Day worked as a logger for five years on Vancouver Island before graduating in 1976 from the University of Victoria.[8]

Career

Day has published over 46 books of poetry, natural history, ecology, mythology, fantasy and children's literature. Day has been a columnist for Punch.[9] He is best known for his books on the life and works of J. R. R. Tolkien.[10]

In 2015, Day received a Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Victoria.[8]

Works on Tolkien

Day has written at least 15 books pertaining to the world created by J. R. R. Tolkien. His first book, A Tolkien Bestiary, released in 1979, is an illustrated reference book on the fauna, flora and people of Middle-earth. The book has been translated in 20 languages and reprinted numerous times since.[11] The Dutch version reached the best-seller list.[12]

The Tolkien family's publishers, HarperCollins, commissioned Day to write The Hobbit Companion, but dropped the book when Christopher Tolkien objected and threatened a lawsuit.[5] Day was forced into bankruptcy by the protracted legal battle.[13][5][14] He later found another publisher for the book,[5] and the rewritten version was approved by the Tolkien estate.[15]

With the release of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power series, Day's 2019 An Encyclopedia of Tolkien debuted on the Toronto Star's list of bestselling books in Canada on October 12, 2022.[16]

Other books

Day's first book of poetry, The Cowichan, was based on a journal he kept during his logging years.[6] He collaborated with Japanese artist Warabe Aska on three children's books, writing poems to accompany Aska's illustrations.[6]

Day explored his theory that Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was written in mathematical code in his book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: Decoded,[5] based on 18 years of research studying more than 1,000 different editions of Carroll's book.[17]

Critical reactions

Time magazine and The Observer named Day's The Doomsday Book of Animals the critics' book of the year in 1981.[6]

Colin Tudge, writing in New Scientist reviewed The Doomsday Book of Animals, writing:

The fate of D. Maximus provides one of the most poignant case-histories among the three hundred extinctions taking place over a mere three centuries that David Day describes in his outstanding The Doomsday Book of Animals.[18]

A review in Quill & Quire wrote of Nevermore:

Best known as the author of the Doomsday Book of Animals, poet and naturalist David Day returns to the subject of extinction with a frankly unclassifiable volume that combines primary texts, prose, and poetry. Taking the form of a 24-hour meditative vigil of the kind practiced by the Coptic Orthodox Church, each section in the book is devoted to a species of animal that has gone extinct during the time that homo sapiens has walked the earth. ... Nevermore is one of the most original and striking books of the year.[19]

Publications
  • The Cowichan. Oolichan Books, 1975
  • Many Voices. North Vancouver, 1977
  • The Burroughs Bestiary. UK: New English Library, 1978
  • A Tolkien Bestiary. London: Chancellor Press, 1979
  • The Scarlet Coat Serial. Canada: Press Porcepic, 1981
  • The Doomsday Book of Animals. New York: Viking Press, 1981
  • The Animals Within. Canada: Penumbra Press, 1984
  • Castles. New York: Bantam Books, 1984
  • Gothic. Canada: Exile Editions, 1986
  • The Emperors Panda. Canada: McClelland & Stewart, 1986
  • The Whale War. UK: Rutledge, 1987
  • The Emperor's Panda. London: Piccadilly, 1988
  • The Eco Wars. London: Harrap, 1989
  • The Swan Children. London: Piccadilly Press, 1989
  • The Encyclopedia of Vanished Species. UK: Universal Books, 1989
  • Noah’s Choice. London: Viking Penguin, 1990
  • True Tales of Environmental Madness. London: Pelham Books, 1990
  • The Sleeper. London: Piccadilly Press, 1990
  • Tolkien: The Illustrated Encyclopedia. London: Mitchell Beazley, 1991
  • The Walking Catfish. New York: Macmillan, 1991
  • Aska’s Animals. Canada: DoubleDay, 1991
  • Aska’s Birds. Canada: DoubleDay, 1992
  • A-Z of Tolkien. London: Mandarin, 1993
  • Tippu. London: Piccadilly Press, 1993
  • King of the Woods. London: Anderson Press, 1993
  • Aska’s Sea Creatures. Canada: DoubleDay, 1994
  • The Complete Rhinoceros. London: EIA Books, 1994
  • Tolkien’s Ring. London: Harper Collins, 1994
  • The Quest for King Arthur. London: De Agostini, 1996
  • The Visions and Revelations of St Louis De Metis. Canada: ThistleDown Press, 1997
  • Just Say No To Family Values and Other Rants, Howls, and Moans. Toronto: Exile Editions, 1997
  • The Hobbit Companion. London: Pavillion Books, 1997
  • The World of Tolkien: Mythological Sources of Lord of the Rings. London: Mitchell Beazley, 2003
  • Nevermore: A Book of Hours. Toronto: Quattro Books, 2012
  • A Dictionary of Tolkien. London: Cassell, 2013
  • Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: Decoded. Toronto: Doubleday, 2015
  • An Atlas of Tolkien. London: Cassell, 2015
  • The Battles of Tolkien. London: Cassell, 2016
  • The Heroes of Tolkien. London: Cassell, 2017
  • The Dark Powers of Tolkien. London: Cassell, 2018
  • The Hobbits of Tolkien. London: Cassell, 2019
  • The Illustrated World of Tolkien. San Diego: Thunder Bay Press, 2019
  • The Ring Legends of Tolkien. London: Cassell, 2020
  • An Encyclopedia of Tolkien: The history and mythology that inspired Tolkien’s world. San Diego: Canterbury Classics, 2019
  • The Illustrated World of Tolkien: The Second Age. Thunder Bay Press, 2023

Personal life

Day has a daughter[9] and is married to Róisín Magill.[20] As of 2020, he lives in Toronto.[10]

References
  1. Kritzwiser, Kay (December 20, 1984). "'Inspired knight' writes to scale mystical heights". The Globe and Mail. Toronto, Ont., Canada. p. 6. ISSN 0319-0714. ProQuest 386418284. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  2. Biography at ABC Book World
  3. Parry, Malcolm (October 31, 2015). "No whines for these wines". The Vancouver Sun. Vancouver, B.C., Canada. p. 2. ProQuest 1728636271. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  4. Day, D. (2011). Nevermore: A Book of Hours. Fourfront Editions. p. 248 (About the Author). ISBN 978-1-926802-69-5. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  5. Chamberlain, Adrian (December 20, 2001). "A Tolkien ringer". Times Colonist. Victoria, British Columbia. p. 46.
  6. Heiman, Carolyn (October 15, 1994). "David Day: From East Sooke to expert in so many different fields". Times Colonist. Victoria, British Columbia. p. 39.
  7. King, Lee (May 13, 2018). "Vic High's illustrious Class of '55". Times Colonist. Victoria, B.C., Canada. pp. –7. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  8. "Distinguished Alumni List for 2015 – University of Victoria". UVic.ca. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
  9. White, Nancy J. (October 22, 1989). "Mad but true: How we ruin the environment". Toronto Star. Toronto, Ont., Canada. p. 1. ISSN 0319-0781. ProQuest 436044376. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  10. About The Author. Simon and Schuster. May 22, 2020. ISBN 9781684129997. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
  11. "David Day". bcbooklook.com. September 22, 2016. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  12. Freedman, Adele (December 24, 1979). "The best-seller that got away David Day's Tolkien Bestiary wasn't Canadian enough for McClelland and Stewart". The Globe and Mail. Toronto, Ont., Canada. p. 11. ISSN 0319-0714. ProQuest 386954655. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  13. "McCrum on war of the words". The Observer (London). July 6, 1997. p. 77.
  14. "The Loafer". The Guardian. July 17, 1997. p. 38.
  15. Williams, Alexandra (July 6, 1997). "Peace breaks out in Middle Earth". The Independent. London (UK), United Kingdom. p. 10. ISSN 0951-9467. ProQuest 312639578. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  16. "The bestselling books in Canada for the week ending Oct. 12, 2022". Toronto Star. October 12, 2022. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
  17. Dedyna, Katherine (October 25, 2015). "Decoding Alice; Victoria native David Day spent 18 years studying the rabbit holes of Lewis Carroll's masterpiece". Times Colonist. Victoria, B.C., Canada. p. 1. ProQuest 1726779493. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  18. Tudge, Colin (October 1, 1981). "Review". New Scientist. 92 (1273): 44.
  19. "Nevermore: A Book of Hours by David Day (Fourfront Editions)". Quill & Quire. St. Joseph Media. November 29, 2012. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  20. Day, David (June 5, 2018). The Heroes of Tolkien. Thunder Bay Press. p. dedication. ISBN 9781684121045.
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