Sinclair Ross

James Sinclair Ross
Born	Template:Birth date near Shellbrook, Saskatchewan, Canada
Died	February 29, 1996(1996-02-29) (aged 88) Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Occupation(s)	Novelist, banker
Years active	1924–1968 (banking), 1938–1974 (writing)
Known for	Portrayals of life on the Canadian Prairies; novel "As For Me and My House"
Notable work	As For Me and My House

James Sinclair Ross, CM (January 22, 1908 – February 29, 1996), was a Canadian novelist and banker celebrated for his portrayals of life on the Canadian Prairies through both novels and short stories. His most renowned work is his first novel, As For Me and My House.

Life and career

Ross was born on a homestead close to Shellbrook, Saskatchewan, and following his parents’ separation, he experienced a nomadic upbringing. He attended school in Indian Head, Saskatchewan but discontinued formal education after completing Grade 11. In 1924, Ross began working at the Union Bank of Canada, which was incorporated into the Royal Bank of Canada the next year. His career took him to several small towns across Saskatchewan before he moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1933, where he published As For Me and My House. After enlisting in the Canadian Army during World War II for four years, Ross relocated to Montreal, Quebec in 1946 and continued his employment with the Royal Bank until his retirement in 1968. Following retirement, he spent time living in Spain and Greece before eventually residing in a nursing facility in Vancouver until his passing.

Published in 1941, As For Me and My House is set against the backdrop of the Great Depression within a remote Prairie community. Though initially it received little attention, it later gained recognition as a seminal work in Canadian literature and helped define prairie fiction. Ross went on to write three more novels along with multiple short story collections; however, none achieved the critical acclaim of his debut. It is said that he destroyed manuscripts that were rejected by publishers, including a sequel to Sawbones Memorial.

One of his short stories, "The Painted Door," was adapted into a short film by Atlantis Films. The film, titled The Painted Door, earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Live Action Short Film at the 57th Academy Awards in 1985.

A commemorative monument dedicated to Ross stands in Indian Head, featuring a bronze sculpture created by artist Joe Fafard. In 1992, he was honored as a Member of the Order of Canada. Ross passed away in 1996 due to complications from Parkinson's disease and was interred in Indian Head. His sexual orientation as a gay man was publicly disclosed after his death through Keath Fraser’s 1997 biography, As For Me and My Body: A Memoir of Sinclair Ross.

Novels

• As For Me and My House (1941)
• The Well (1958)
• Whir of Gold (1970)
• Sawbones Memorial (1974)

Short stories

• The Lamp at Noon and other stories. Queen's Quarterly, 1938; reprinted editions released in 1968, 1988 (McClelland and Stewart), and 2018 (Penguin Modern Classics)
  • "One's a Heifer"
  • "The Painted Door"
    • German edition: Die frisch gestrichene Tür, included in Kanada erzählt, Fischer Taschenbuch, 1992
  • "The Lamp at Noon"
    • German translations featured in Kanadische Erzähler der Gegenwart (1986) and Die weite Reise. Kanadische Erzählungen und Kurzgeschichten (1974)
  • "Cornet At Night"
    • Adapted into a 15-minute film by the National Film Board of Canada (1963) and later as a television movie directed by Bruce Pittman (1983)
  • "A Field of Wheat"
  • "A Day with Pegasus"
  • "Nell"
  • "The Outlaw"