The Many Deaths of Tom Thomson: Separating Fact from Fiction

by Gregory Klages

Overview

A National Post Bestseller!

How did Tom Thomson die in the summer of 1917?

Was landscape painter Tom Thomson shot by poachers, or by a German-American draft dodger? Did a blow from a canoe paddle knock him unconscious and into the water? Was he fatally injured in a drunken fight? Did he end his life out of fear of being forced to marry his pregnant girlfriend?

Commemorating the one-hundredth anniversary of the death of the renowned Canadian landscape painter, The Many Deaths of Tom Thomson offers an authoritative review of the historical record, as well as some theories you might not have thought of in a hundred years. Cultural historian Gregory Klages surveys first-hand testimony and archival records about Thomson’s tragic demise, attempting to sort fact from legend in the death of this Canadian icon.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781459731981
Publisher:	Dundurn Press
Publication date:	05/14/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Gregory Klages is the research director for Death on a Painted Lake: The Tom Thomson Tragedy, one of twelve archival websites produced by the international award–winning Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian History project. His research concerning Thomson has appeared in Canadian and American publications, and been talked about in national newspapers. He has also shared his insights on television and radio across the country. He lives in Toronto.

Gregory Klages is the research director for Death on a Painted Lake: The Tom Thomson Tragedy, one of twelve archival websites produced by the international award–winning Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian History project. His research concerning Thomson has appeared in Canadian and American publications, and been talked about in national newspapers. He has also shared his insights on television and radio across the country. He lives in Toronto.

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

A Note on the Text 9
Introduction: The Misunderstood Death of Tom Thomson 11

Part ONE: The Life of Tom Thomson 17
1 Tom Thomson‘s Life 19
2 Tom Thomson‘s Art 28
3 Tom Thomson‘s Last Summer 39
4 Mourning Tom Thomson 46

Part TWO: The Many Myths of Thomson‘s Death 67
5 Signs of Foul Play 69
6 A Body Discovered 100
7 An Accomplice Confesses 129
8 Thomson as a Father 145
9 Repetition Makes the Stories True 168

Part THREE: The Many Deaths of Tom Thomson 185
10 The Murder of Tom Thomson 187
11 The Suicide of Tom Thomson 206
12 The Body of Tom Thomson 216
13 The Accidental Death of Tom Thomson 225

Epilogue: The Last Death of Tom Thomson 235

Acknowledgements 238
A Note on the Sources 241
Selected Bibliography 243
Index 246

What People are Saying About This

Archival Narratives for Canada - Kathleen Garay & Christl Verduyn

Klages’ forensic archival sleuthing does provide, for the first time in almost a century, some degree of certainty surrounding this event.

Editorial Reviews

Klages has produced a timely and valuable contribution to the literature on Thomson that certainly will be of interest to historians, artists, and popular audiences.

Canadian Historical Review

Klages’ forensic archival sleuthing does provide, for the first time in almost a century, some degree of certainty surrounding this event.

Archival Narratives for Canada - Kathleen Garay and Christl Verduyn

Klages examines each hypothesis in turn, in clean, crisp prose.

writerstrust.com

The Many Deaths of Tom Thomson stands as both a conscientious case study and a larger investigation into what history can and cannot do.

Canada's History