The series consists of an extensive subject classification system of files created by William Whitehead, which contains records primarily relating to Timothy Findley's literary career as an acclaimed novelist and playwright. The records also relate to Timothy Findley's activities as an activist, teacher, mentor and friend, and also to William Whitehead's activities as Timothy Findley's companion and manager. The series primarily contains personal and professional correspondence including both incoming and outgoing letters. Included are computer printouts or responses prepared by Whitehead, as well as handwritten drafts by Findley. Specifically, the records consist of: correspondence; notes; manuscript drafts; royalty statements; invoices; receipts; lists; certificates; reports; family estate records; copies of contracts and deeds; passports; invitations; greeting cards; curricula vitae; memorabilia; and printed material such as pamphlets, programmes, postcards, exhibition invitations, recipes, programme tickets, newsletters and clippings. The series also includes research files for Findley's published work that contain notes, reviews, drafts, correspondence relating to publishing and editing, book tour records and other information relating to adaptations of Findley's work. The correspondence files also include numerous letters of condolence sent to William Whitehead after the death of Timothy Findley as well as the personalized letters Whitehead sent in response.
The series includes records relating to Findley's involvement in organizations such as the Writers' Union of Canada, the Playwrights' Union of Canada, the Writers' Development Trust, the Harbourfront Reading Series, the Stratford Festival, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the Ontario Arts Council, the Parkinson Foundation, Arts for Peace, Amnesty International, ACTRA (Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists), P.E.N., and Massey College. Other organizational events that are documented are: a performance at P.E.N. benefits and congresses including 'Mute Court: Censorship on Trial'; Findley's involvement in the promotion and functioning of Casey House AIDS Hospice in Toronto; Findley's involvement in the relocation of political prisoner and journalist Martha Kumsa to Toronto; Findley's involvement as a teacher for students of the Humber School of Creative Writing; the Timothy Findley celebratory gala dinner and conference at Trent University; the awards ceremony for the Governor General's literary award for drama; as well as the Banff Centre for the Arts National Award ceremony. Extensive correspondence with publishing houses such as Oberon, André Deutsch, McClelland and Stewart, Macmillan, Bantam Books, Clarke Irwin and Company, Harper Collins, Penguin, Faber and Faber, Claasen, and Serpent à Plumes is also included.
The series includes extensive correspondence with admirers and fans, as well as with many friends including, but not limited to: Ken and Mary Adachi; Margaret Atwood; Russell Banks; Ruth Barrett; Pierre Berton; Barry Callaghan; June Callwood; Silver Donald Cameron; Robertson Davies; Marian Engel; Brad Fraser; Graeme Gibson; Margaret Gibson; Réshard Gool; Alec Guinness; Martha Henry; Tomson Highway; Janet Turner Hospital; Catherine Hunter; William Hutt; John Irving; Jack Kapica; Janice Kulyk Keefer; Thomas King; Joy Kogawa; Margaret Laurence; Ann-Marie MacDonald; Gwendolyn MacEwen; Stuart Maclean; Alberto Manguel; John Metcalf; Farley Mowat; Alice Munro; Michael Ondaatje; P.K. Page; Al Purdy; Janis Rapoport; Nino Ricci; Mordecai Richler; Heather Robertson; Jane Rule; John Ralston Saul; David Staines; Michael Tippett; Jane Urquhart; Guy Vanderhaeghe; Phyllis Webb; Adele Wiseman; George Woodcock; Marnie Woodrow; and Thornton Wilder.
The series includes correspondence with and between various members of Timothy Findley's family dating from 1891. The earliest letters (1891-1923) include correspondence written or received by Findley's grandparents and by his paternal aunt and uncle recording family events. There is one letter to Findley's grandfather from Findley's paternal uncle Thomas Irving Findley, written while the latter was serving in the First World War. The correspondence spanning 1948-1956 includes letters written by Findley's brother Michael to his wife Sally Murray while Michael was living in London and later in Michigan. There is one letter to Sally from Findley himself while he was working as an actor in London. The correspondence dating from 1962-1978 includes letters written by Findley to his mother and father, commenting on his feelings and impressions as a writer and commenting on his works in progress. Many of the letters were written while Findley was working as writer-in-residence at the National Arts Centre and producing the play Can You See Me Yet? The more recent family correspondence includes letters received by Findley from his mother, Margaret Maude Bull (dealing with family matters and often containing comments on Findley's works), as well as letters of condolence on her death. In general, there is correspondence from Findley's extended family and a great deal of genealogical information about the Findley family.
The series includes material such as research, manuscripts, typescripts, notes and drafts of Findley's literary work. As such, there is considerable overlap with other series, particularly the Literary manuscripts series. The "Book Reviews" files contains manuscripts, drafts and notes for Findley's book reviews of Virunga: The Passion of Dian Fossey by Farley Mowat, Storm Glass by Jane Urquhart, John Cheever: A Biography by Scott Donaldson and Dance on the Earth: The Memoirs of Margaret Laurence. The 'Requests' files are extensive. The 'Requests to Publish or Write Scripts' files contain notes, manuscripts and drafts of several of Findley's articles and stories written for various magazines including 'Lana Speaks', 'Better to Exist for a While Than Never to Exist at All', 'A Writer's Place', 'Who Do They Think You Are?', 'Parcel Post', 'The Yellow Chair', 'Our Town', 'Simone Vauthier and The Wars'; 'A Small Town in Normandy', 'A Canvas Bag of Books for Summer Reading', 'What Mrs. Felton Knew' and 'Christmas Recalled'. Other Findley pieces included are the foreword for the book Art for Enlightenment, the Margaret Atwood entry for the Routledge Encyclopaedia of Commonwealth Literature and tributes to Robertson Davies and Phyllis Webb, the latter entitled 'Friends, Romans, Phyllis Webb - Lend Me Your Ears'. The 'Requests to Read - Yes' file contains notes and drafts of speeches made by Findley for the Heliconian Club in Toronto and for the Canadian Friends of Finland as well as notes for his speech on censorship and 'Turning Down the Volume' - The Spry Lecture, 1992. Other subject files include notes, speeches and guest lists for the various memorials that took place to honour and remember Timothy Findley after his death after well as two bookks of condolence signed by fans, family and friends.
This series also contains published material, some with hand-written notations by Findley, which he used as research for one book as well as his play Elizabeth Rex. Also included is one honorary degree from Wilfrid Laurier University and one Banff Centre for the Arts National Award.
There are approximately 70 photographs remtained among the textual files including: a number of a ceremony at the Marian Engel park in Toronto 1988 by Elisabeth Feryn ('Marian Engel' file); portraits of Findley ('Photographers and Artists' files); family photographs including ones apparently removed from an album ('The Wars' file); and one of the author Ken Harvey ('Ken Harvey' file); as well as many others. Other photographic material that is not kept with textual records consists of snapshots of Findley and Whitehead among friends and admirers and numbers approximately 368 items that include b/w and colour prints and b/w and colour negatives. Each photograph has a reference to the corresponding volume of textual records where the items were originally found.
The series contains seven compact discs. Two of these compact discs are copies of the Cowboy Junkies album entitled "20th Century Blues". The third disc is from the Tokyo performance of Elizabeth Rex. The remaining discs were sent to William Whitehead from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. They are copies of CBC Radio One's broadcast of "40 years of Great Ideas" (the Ideas show 40th anniversary) that William Whitehead helped produce.
