Alumni PROFILES
OLD BOY’s NEW NOVEL set in SELWYN HOUSE of the 1930s monarch had visited Canada and an event that is etched in Montreal memory. The science fiction begins when the protagonist discovers he has the mysterious abilities to fly, read minds and perform telekinesis. The adventure yarn combines all these elements when Timothy must use his powers to foil a plot to murder the Royals. The books is not aimed at the Old Boy age group, but nevertheless is an enjoyable read for anyone interested in the history of Montreal in the 1930s and Selwyn House School in those early days. To recap his personal history since leaving Selwyn House, the following biography appears on Mr. Huestis’ website, Doug Huestis at the Old Boys’ Reunion dougheustis.com. “I was born in London, f you see yourself in this book, it is Ontario, but brought up in entirely intentional. Doug Huestis Montreal, educated there and at ’39 has just published his second Port Hope, Ontario, the novel, The Three Talents of Timothy University of Toronto, and O’Dowd, a young-adult tale that is part finally McGill University, science fiction, part historical adventure graduating with an MD in 1948. and part memoir. For Old Boys, the I trained at the Montreal memoir part may be the most General Hospital, and spent a interesting, as the hero of the book is a couple of years overseas (in Selwyn House student attending the Sweden and England, plus a school in 1939, when it was still located good deal of motorcycle touring around Europe), then moved on Redpath Street. The book paints a vivid picture of back to Montreal. I finally those days, full of familiar locales in landed a paying job as a downtown and west-end Montreal and pathologist in Pittsburgh, and in details of daily life at Selwyn House. The June of 1955 married the love of cast of characters at the school are only a my life, Rosemary Colford. Five letter or two from reality. The years and three kids later, we headmaster, for example, is named moved to Chicago to direct the Winstall, teachers are identified as Mount Sinai Blood Center. Two Phipps, Instey, and Miss Sneath. Sound colleagues and I wrote a textbook, Practical Blood familiar? Historically, the plot revolves around Transfusion, Little, Brown & the 1939 visit from the King and Co., 1st edition 1969. This was Queen—the first time a reigning well received and went through
four editions, covering a period of about 25 years. “In 1969, we moved with our five kids to Tucson, Arizona, where I was professor of pathology at the University of Arizona. Over the next 25 years I worked on special transfusion methods of treating cancer and leukemia patients, and treating disease using new techniques of blood cell separation. I retired from the university in 1995. Since then I have spent a lot of time reading things I had no time to read before, and took several courses in creative writing. I have written and published some medical history, memoirs, a few book reviews, short stories, and a couple of novels. “I have started work on a sequel to The Three Talents of Timothy O’Dowd. This will have a different setting a year later.” ■
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Veritas, page 17
