Poet Barry McKinnon, who brought printing press and Margaret Atwood to pulp mill boom town, mourned

In 1969, fresh from graduating with a master's in creative writing at the University of British Columbia, Barry McKinnon was delivering pizzas in Vancouver.

That changed when, after a midnight interview at the Vancouver Hotel, he was offered a position as a founding faculty member at the newly opened College of New Caledonia, roughly 800 kilometres north.

So McKinnon and his wife packed up their '57 Plymouth and drove into the "heat and the stink and the logging trucks" of acity that, at the time,was a booming mill town, which had more than doubled in size in a single decade on the strength of the local lumber industry.

What McKinnon found was a far cry from the literary scene he had knowndown south.

"People were kind of drunk all the time," he recalledin a 2015 interview looking back on his careerwith the Seattle-based poet Paul E. Nelson.

But after havinga few stiffdrinks himself, and meeting the other faculty members, McKinnonand his wifedecided to stay, attracted by the community of new arrivals eager to transform the city.

McKinnon died on Oct. 30 this week after being admitted to hospital with multiple organ failure, according to a post on Nelson's site and from several other friends.

He is being remembered as a teacher and friend who helpedcreate a northern B.C. literary scene, that brought internationally acclaimed poetsto town while mentoring generations of new writers.

A gifted writer and teacher

Born in Calgary in 1944, McKinnonmoved to Montrealin 1965 where he attended Sir George Williams University and was taught poetry by one of the country'spreeminent poets, Irving Layton.

From there, McKinnonearned his master's from UBC and graduated the same year he moved north.

He went on to publish countless poems and more than 20books and chapbooks, including Governor General's Literary Award finalist Thethe. in 1980and the 1992 Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize winnerPulp Log.

But he was perhaps best known for the boisterous poetry readings he would create, bringing in visitors that over the years included Margaret Atwood, Al Purdy,Michael Ondaatjeand dozens of others.

Daybreak North15:07'A soft spot in a tough town': Remembering pioneering poet Barry McKinnon

One of the founding faculty members of the College of New Caledonia and a pioneer of Prince George's literary scene Barry McKinnon is being mourned. Friend and colleague John Harris speaks with Carolina de Ryk.

Early in his career,McKinnon acquireda printing press that had been owned by the legendary local construction and brewing millionaire "Uncle" Ben Ginter, followed by a second he recovered from the historic gold-mining town of Barkerville, a two-hour drive southeastof Prince George.

He would use these presses to create handset poems he gifted to visitors, and to publish work written by his students.

Friend and colleague John Harris said he believes that seeing their words brought to life in this way served as a source of inspiration to many of McKinnon's students.

"It really involved them," he said, as did the ability to see major literary figures in person despite being so far from Canada's cultural centres.

'A soft spot in a tough town'

In a comment to CBC News, McKinnon's son described him as a "soft spot in a tough town," a sentiment Harris echoed.

He said he settled happily into fatherhood, fixing up a heritage home in one of the city's oldest neighbourhoods, and starting a radio show devoted to jazz music.

Among those paying tribute to McKinnon this week is Donna Kane, herself a Governor General's Award finalistbased in B.C.'s northeast, who says seeing him read in a Prince George basementin 1995 was her introduction to poetry and that he mentored her early in her career.

Award-winning writer Rob McLennan of Ottawa wrote in his blog that itfelt like McKinnon "was a poet who deserved far more attention than he received, and how moving north to Prince George to teach in 1969 put him on the outskirts of literature ... despite the enormous amount of activity he encouraged, prompted and hosted during his time in the north."

Kane said McKinnonwill be remembered for his "many, many contributions to the literary scene in Prince George, and his influence on writers like me."

A memorial for McKinnon is being planned and Harris said work is underway on creating an anthology of his work.

But though he mourns the loss of his longtime friend, Harris said all he has to do is read one of his poems and it feels like he is with him again.

"We read his poetry and he comes right back to us."