W. P. Kinsella

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Categories: 1935 births | Canadian novelists | Canadian short story writers | Members of the Order of British Columbia | Members of the Order of Canada | Edmontonians

William Patrick Kinsella, OC (born May 25, 1935, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) is a noted novelist who mainly writes about Canada's First Nations and baseball.

His most famous work is probably Shoeless Joe, upon which the movie Field of Dreams was based. A short story by Kinsella, "Lieberman in Love," was the basis for a short film that won the Academy Award for Live Action Short Film -- the Oscar win came as a surprise to Kinsella, who, watching the award telecast from home, had no idea the film had been made and released. He had not been listed in the film's credits, and was not acknowledged by Christine Lahti in her acceptance speech -- a full page advertisement was later placed in Variety apologizing to Kinsella for the error. Kinsella's short stories about life on a First Nations reserve were the basis for the CBC television series, The Rez.

Before becoming a professional author, he worked as a scout for the Atlanta Braves and was a professor of English at the University of Alberta. Kinsella now claims to have retired from writing, and is a noted tournament Scrabble player. He lives in Chilliwack, British Columbia.

In 1993, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 2005, he was awarded the Order of British Columbia.

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