Old Boy’s new novel set in SHS of the 1930s

Alumni PROFILES

OLD BOY’s NEW NOVEL set in SELWYN HOUSE of the 1930s

If you see yourself in this book, it is entirely intentional. Doug Huestis ’39 has just published his second novel, The Three Talents of Timothy O’Dowd, a young-adult tale that is part science fiction, part historical adventure and part memoir. For Old Boys, the memoir part may be the most interesting, as the hero of the book is a Selwyn House student attending the school in 1939, when it was still located on Redpath Street.

The book paints a vivid picture of those days, full of familiar locales in downtown and west-end Montreal and details of daily life at Selwyn House. The cast of characters at the school are only a letter or two from reality. The headmaster, for example, is named Winstall, teachers are identified as Phipps, Instey, and Miss Sneath. Sound familiar?

Historically, the plot revolves around the 1939 visit from the King and Queen—the first time a reigning 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, dougheustis.com.

“I was born in London, Ontario, but brought up in Montreal, educated there and at Port Hope, Ontario, the University of Toronto, and finally McGill University, graduating with an MD in 1948. I trained at the Montreal General Hospital, and spent a couple of years overseas (in Sweden and England, plus a good deal of motorcycle touring around Europe), then moved back to Montreal. I finally landed a paying job as a pathologist in Pittsburgh, and in June of 1955 married the love of my life, Rosemary Colford. Five years and three kids later, we moved to Chicago to direct the Mount Sinai Blood Center. Two colleagues and I wrote a textbook, Practical Blood Transfusion, Little, Brown & Co., 1st edition 1969. This was 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 Doug Huestis at the Old Boys’Reunion later.” ■