Home > Mordecai Richler

Son of a scrapyard dealer, Richler was born and raised on St. Urbain Street in the Plateau Mont-Royal neighbourhood of Montreal, Quebec, he attended Sir George Williams University (now Concordia University) to study English but dropped out before completing his degree. Instead he managed to get a job working as a news editor at the CBC office in Montreal. He moved to Paris in 1959 for several years and then later London where he would stay until returning to Montreal in 1972.

His career took off with the book The Appenticeship of Duddy Kravitz. A book that featured much of what Richler would later become remembered for, recording the environment of the Jewish neighbourhood in the Plateau during the 40's and 50's. Later, in 1974, the book would be turned into a movie (directed by Richler's friend Ted KotcheffTed Kotcheff (sometimes credited as William Kotcheff or William T. Kotcheff born April 7 1931 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian film and television director, who is well known for his work on several high-profile British television productions an and staring, in his first leading role, Richard DreyfussRichard Dreyfuss (born October 29, 1947) is an American actor. He was born as the son of an attorney in Brooklyn, New York. He spent his early childhood in Brooklyn and in Bayside, Queens until he moved to Los Angeles with his family at age nine. Dreyfuss.)

Winner of the Commonwealth Writers PrizeThe Commonwealth Writers Prize was established in 1987. It awards £10,000 to the best book submitted, £3,000 to the best first book, and £1,000 each to the best book and best first book of an author in each of the four Commonwealth regions. Best Books Win. He was made a Companion of the Order of CanadaThe Order of Canada is Canada's highest civilian honour, awarded to those who adhere to the Order's motto Desiderantes meliorem patriam meaning "they desire a better country. The Order was created on July 1, 1967, on the country's 100th anniversary, to re in 2001, only a few months before his death.

Richler had five children with his wife Florence. Most notable of them is DanielDaniel Richler one of the sons of Canadian author Mordecai Richler, is a well known arts and pop culture broadcaster and writer. Richler, Daniel Richler, Daniel Richler, Daniel., who is a longstanding figure in Canadian media and broadcasting.

Awards:

• 1969 Governor General's AwardSince its creation in 1937, the Governor General's Literary Awards has become one of Canada's most prestigious prizes, awarded in both French and English in the following seven categories: Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, Drama, Children's Literature-Text, C for Cocksure.
• 1972 Governor General's Award for St. Urbain's Horseman.
• 1974 Screenwriters Guild of America Award for Best Comedy for screenplay of The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz.
• 1976 Canadian Library Asssociation Book of the Year for Children Award: Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang.
• 1976 Ruth Schwartz Children's Book Award for Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang.
• 1995 Mr. Christie's Book Award (for the best English book age 8 to 11) for Jacob Two-Two's First Spy Case.
• 1997 The Giller PrizeThe Giller Prize is an annual award that goes to the author of the best Canadian novel or short story fiction collection published in English. This prize was established in 1994 by Toronto businessman Jack Rabinovitch in honour of his late wife Doris Gill for Barney's Version.
• 1998 Canadian Booksellers Associations "Author of the Year" award.

Fiction:

• The Acrobats (1954) also released as Wicked We Love (July 1955)
• Son of a Smaller Hero (1955)
• A Choice of Enemies (1957)
• The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1959)
• The Incomparable Atuk (1963)
• Cocksure (1968)
• The Street (1969)
• St. Urbain's Horseman (1971)
• The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz [screenplay] (1974)
• Joshua Then and Now (1980)
• Joshua Then and Now [screenplay] (1985)
• Solomon Gursky Was Here (1989)
• Barney's Version (1997)

• Fiction for young adults:
• Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang (1975)
• Jacob Two-Two and the Dinosaur (1987)
• Jacob Two-Two and the Great Spy Case

Travel

• Images of Spain (1977)
• This Year In Jerusalem (1994)

Essays

• Hunting Tigers Under Glass: Essays and Reports (1968)
• Shovelling Trouble (1972)
• Notes on an Endangered Species and Others (1974)
• The Great Comic Book Heroes and Other Essays (1978)
• Home Sweet Home: My Canadian Album (1984)
• Broadsides (1991)
• Belling the Cat (1998)
• Dispatches from the Sporting Life (2002)

Nonfiction

• Oh Canada! Oh Quebec! Requiem for a Divided Country (1992)
• On Snooker: The Game and the Characters Who Play It (2001)

Anthologies

• The Best of Modern Humor
• Writers on World War II