Stephen Leackock essays

Stephen Leackock essays Stephen Leacock led a fascinating life. He lived on various continents throughout his childhood, wrote 35 books, and won many awards. In this essay I will discuss his life, the awards and honours he received, and the amazing number of books he produced. Stephen endured difficult periods during his lifetime. His parents, Peter and Agnes Leacock, had a large family, which they had trouble adequately supporting. They tried farming in many different places including South Africa and Kansas. In 1876 Peter took his family to Sutton, Ontario. In his unfinished autobiography, The Boy I Left Behind Me, Leacock said that our farm with its buildings was, I will say, the damnedest place I ever saw (p. 58 (taken from quote from government web site)). Stephen and his 10 other sibling didnt have a comfortable life on the farm, with the horrific stench of the barn, the horrible coldness of the farm house, and his single miserable candle to study by. His mother was determined to give her kids the best education possible so she took them out of the public school system and home schooled them. She carried the burden of their education herself until a tutor named Harry Park came along. After Stephens father deserted the family, Agnes was left to care for their eleven children as well as run the farm. In 1882 Stephen enrolled in Upper Canada College. He was an excellent student; he was even the editor of the college newspaper, The College Times. In 1887 he graduated at the top of the school, and returned home to find that his father, a drunk and penniless man at this point, had come back. However, the following summer he found some money and left again. He never returned, living out the rest of his days in Nova Scotia. He never saw his wife or children again, and lived with his common-law wife until his death in 1940. Stephens real interest was political science, which he studied at the Uni ...