Often, over at Trucker Bob's, he shares a poem from the legendary Yukon poet, Robert Service.

Every time he posts one, it reminds me of an old story that my father's uncle Wilson was a similar poet and was published. His poems were often compared to Robert Service. Of course, I wasn't sure if this was part of family legend or not.

So last night, I started googling out of curiousity and was surprised that I found him in the Library and Archives Canada. And also mention of him in a catalogue of old books.

The archives show it as:

AMICUS No. 6440042
                                                Monograph

     NLC COPIES: Reserve - PS8539 H69 S5 1940z - NO ILL
                 Reserve - PS8539 H69 S5 1940z - Copy 2 - NO ILL

        NAME(S):*Thomson, Wilson
       TITLE(S): The shiftboss, and other poems / by Wilson Thomson
      PUBLISHER: Timmins? Ont. : [s.n., 194-?] (Timmins : Porcupine
                  advance)
    DESCRIPTION: [24] p. ; 16 cm.

        NUMBERS: LCCN:  44018053


 CLASSIFICATION: LC Class no.:  PS8539*

I called my Dad last night to ask him if he thought the above was Uncle Wilson's book. Apparently, it is. He wrote others too, but this particular one got him quite a bit of prestige and spoke of mining in Timmins, Ontario in the 1940s.

He later moved out to BC, but lived up in the Fraser Canyon making his living off of gold panning of all things. A lifelong bachelor and somewhat of a hermit, he lived most of his later years in a small shack outside of Haney, BC. My Dad kept in touch with him until his death in 1967, but his works are lost. We know one book exists with my cousins in California, but the particular family member is quadraplegic and largely unreachable.

I do, however, have a couple of notebooks containing a few odd poems. I am not sure they're his, but it would stand to reason. I'll have to pull them out and see what's there.

So my quest this morning is on. If he's listed in the Archives, there has to be a copy somewhere.