Malcolm Lowry may be North Vancouver’s most talented, paranoid alcoholic. He wrote Under the Volcano, his most famous book, from a shack in Cates Park. Lowry died on June 26, 1957 at 48.
Under the Volcano:
Born in England, Lowry lived in Vancouver for more than 15 years. He had a variety of addresses on Vancouver’s West Side and in the West End, but most of his time was spent near Deep Cove in North Vancouver. It was here where he spent the most productive time of his short life, which included more than a dozen novels and works of poetry.
The manuscript was rejected 13 times, nearly lost in a fire, and eventually published in 1947. Jacqueline Bisset starred in the 1984 movie of the same name, and Albert Finney won an Oscar nomination for best actor in a leading role.
The guy had a brilliant way with words, much like Hemingway; I’m just not really a fan of either. I found Under the Volcano, a semi auto-biographical novel about an alcoholic ex British consul living in small town Mexico, a tough slog. But what do I know. The book picked up the Governor General’s award and is considered one of the best English-language novels of the 20th century.
And, because tomorrow is the 65th anniversary of his death, it seemed like a fitting tribute to visit the site of his former digs at Cates Park where he lived with second wife Margerie between 1940 and 1954.
The Shack at Cates Park:
In the 1930s, thenow Cates Park hosted a bunch of squatter’s shacks, occupied by Dollar Mill workers and others devastated by the Depression. By the time Lowry moved there in 1940, the shacks were mainly used as summer holiday cabins.
The Lowry’s paid $15 a month in the summer, $7.50 in the winter. In 1941 they bought another of the shacks, painted the door red and the window frames yellow. It burned down in 1944 taking some of Lowry’s unfinished manuscripts with it, and they re-rented their original shack and started to rebuild. The third shack, was, according to friend and frequent visitor Earle Birney, without plumbing and electricity, but was “a 20 square-foot dwelling” with two rooms heated by a wood stove and an outhouse.
Malcolm Lowry Walk:
The shacks are long gone. There’s a “Malcolm Lowry Walk” sign at the beginning of the trail and a plaque not far away that gives some history. You can see the same view that Lowry looked out on more than half a century ago. The Burnaby oil refinery that he hated, has been there since 1932.
It’s an easy walk along the trails and down to the beach these days, but when the Lowry’s lived there they had to walk down a narrow path surrounded by thick forest.
The Lowry’s were evicted from their shack in 1954 and returned to England. Lowry died there on June 26, 1957 from a combination of gin, barbiturates and inhalation of stomach contents. The coroner called it “death by misadventure.”
The shack was bulldozed that same year.
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26 comments on “Malcolm Lowry’s North Vancouver”
Very enjoyable read. Have a great summer break!!
Thanks Tracy! Happy summer to you as well
“Hear Us O Lord From Heaven Thy Dwelling Place” is a collection of Lowry’s short stories that gives much insight into the Dollarton community where he lived and Vancouver at the time.
Thanks for that, I’ll see if the library has it.
I had Under the Volcano on my shelves for many years before reading it on my first extended Mexico vacation about 12 years ago. I, too, found it a bit of a slog but immediately recognized the area described (Costalegre) and volcano (Colima) as the locations and background which I now visit annually.
Probably would have helped to read it in the locations you mention. I remember reading Canterbury Tales in Canterbury decades ago, and loving it for that reason.
I’ve been to Dollarton, and also to the house in the village of Ripe in Sussex where he died, to The Lamb, the pub he was banned from, and to his grave in the church of St John the Baptist nearby. When I read Under the Volcano years ago I was very taken with it, but attempting it more recently I gave up.
” … may be North Vancouver’s most talented, paranoid alcoholic…” It sounds like there is competition!
I’d be shocked if there isn’t
Models of some of the old squatters’ shacks are located just inside the entrance to Maplewood Flats on the Dollarton Highway. Under management of the Wild Bird Trust of B.C., Maplewood Flats is a pleasant place to walk or bird watch.
[…] Malcolm Lowry’s North Vancouver Shack […]
Yes, I think Under the Volcano is a tough slog–ultimately worth it, I think. There is a collection entitled “Summer Ferry to Gabriola” which is accessible and a good read.
The story I was told is that at some point his shack caught on fire, and he ran to get help shouting “It’s a conflagration, it’s a conflagration!”–and no one understood what he was saying. (I think it was an English professor of mine at UBC who told this story…)
That’s pretty funny (and I had to look up conflagration…..)
Actually, it’s October Ferry to Gabriola.
I too have tried to read Under the Volcano and made it about 1/2 way through – must try again. My husband, who was a very great Lowery fan when in his youth, speaks of Lowrey’s work as Joycean, with myriad allusions where you really need a good classical education to really understand them. Kind of like a scavenger hunt! Lowery was quite famous in his day – even my mother, new immigrant from Germany and speaking no English, came to know all about him and read Volcano after she had been here for a few years and mastered English.
Lowry wrote one phrase in Under the Volcano that was so insightful…”Behold the agony of the rose”.
A guy named Grant Stevenson got into the cabin before is was bulldozed and gathered the manuscripts, put them in his bike basket, and took them home. I think his mother got those to UBC, which were the short stories mentioned.
Love all your Posts .Very interesting and eye opening ! Thanks ! Have a Great Summer !
Thanks Bev and same to you!
My father was a fan of ‘Volcano’ and ‘Gabriola’ so I saved these books off his shelf with the intention of reading them…and maybe finding out something more about my father’s inner make-up which is often hard for an offspring to see. Maybe some of the attributes of those writings have been lost due to time and its changes. I could not get through these readings, I am afraid I was bored; to hard to read with any clarity. I am still intrigued by the author and his life story.
correction: ‘”.. too hard to read…”
North Vancouver’s most talented, paranoid alcoholic? If it’s a competition, I’d nominate Fred Varley. I don’t know about the paranoid part but certainly he fits the other criteria.
Excellent choice – and Canadian! Juggling a wife, mistress and debt, he had to be at least a little paranoid.
UTV was one tough read! Thanks for this post. I must visit this trail!
I met Malcom in about 1943 or 1945. We had a habit of prowling the shoreline looking for anything of value or interest. When we got to the dwelling that turned out to be Malcolm’s home, it was high tide and we could not get by. Malcom was on his deck & hailed us. He was a friendly and outgoing fellow so that was the beginning of several visits by us in the glorious days of summer. Yes, he was a boozer, but he was also a great host, and very gracious to a couple of punk kids unused to pleasant treatment from adults.
Lovely story, thanks for sharing it.
Harry, I am looking to chat with you if you did indeed meet Lowry. Please get in touch with me by email icolasnay@hotmail.com
There’s much to love about Lowry’s writing, to deal with life’s boredom & the hidden narrative that lies everywhere.