’I’m a Westmount boy!’ – Paul Almond
- Published on November 9th, 2010
- Elisabeth Faure
November 17th, Westmount welcomes home a celebrated son in style. Filmmaker and author Paul Almond will be honored with a reception at Victoria Hall. Almond is in the midst of the book tour for his first novel, “The Deserter”. The period adventure/romance is set on the Gaspé coastline, and is inspired by Almond’s own family history. It is the first in the eight-book “Alford Saga”.
Almond’s award-winning biography in Canadian and British television and movie-making is so expansive, there isn’t room in this article to list all of his achievements (indeed, in this entire paper). He has enjoyed a distinguished career at both the CBC and BBC, and has directed over 130 television dramas. He has directed acclaimed feature films (some starring famed Canadian actress (and ex-wife) Genevieve Bujold). He also created the iconic documentary series, “Seven Up!”, about a group of British schoolchildren, aged seven, from diverse social backgrounds. The series has returned over the years to check in with original cast members at seven-year intervals. The documentaries have inspired a devoted cult following.
But for the past decade, Almond has switched gears, focusing on writing. Almond is now married to Joan Almond, whom he describes as “the love of my life,” and, “my beautiful Californian wife” (“The Deserter” is dedicated to her). The couple divides their time between Joan’s Malibu home and Almond’s family home on the Gaspé coast. It is during summers there that Almond penned the Alford Saga.
“It’s so beautiful here - the fog is rolling in, the rain is pouring down, the garden is beautiful, with leaves blown over it,” says Almond, speaking by phone to the Westmount Examiner from his Gaspé home. The house, built by his great-grandfather, is over 200 years old, and is the oldest house inhabited to be continuously by a single family on the Gaspé coastline.
Almond professes a profound attachment to the Gaspé, but his Westmount roots run deep. “I’m a Westmount boy,” says Almond. He went to Roslyn and Westmount Jr. High before attending Bishop’s College and McGill (he remembers taking the 24 there from Westmount on a daily basis). He went on to study at Oxford University’s prestigious Balliol College. Childhood memories of Westmount include hours spent in the children’s section of the Westmount Public Library, which Almond considers, “the best library, anywhere”.
He notes it’s ironic that he decided to write a series of historical novels, as history was his worst subject in school. “I nearly flunked!” he laughs.-
Almond is excited for his reception, and the opportunity to connect with Westmount friends. He says he’s having lots of fun on his book tour, which is jam-packed - so far, he’s made multiple stops in B.C, Ontario and Quebec.
He says it’s ironic that he decided to write a series of historical novels, as history was his worst subject in school. “I nearly flunked!” he laughs, saying it was only due to his high marks in other subjects that he got into Oxford. “But now, I've written these books where you can get all the history you could ever want, but in a very exciting adventure format, with a lot of romance. And it's not, unfortunately, full of sex, violence, hoodlums, druggies - none of that,” jokes Almond. “They're proper books, and kids can read them too.”
Almond’s reception is open to all. For more information or to obtain free passes, phone 514-989-5265, or pick up at Victoria Hall, 4626 Sherbrooke St. W.
