Robert Harlow (born November 19, 1923) is a Canadian writer and former academic,[1] best known for his 1972 novel Scann.[2]
Harlow was born in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, but raised primarily in Prince George.
He served in the military during World War II as a bomber pilot,[2] and then attended the University of British Columbia and the University of Iowa.[2] He worked for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation from 1951 to 1965, much of that time as the director of radio operations for British Columbia.[2] He joined the faculty of the University of British Columbia in 1965 as head of its creative writing program.[2] He married Margaret Latremouille, and was stepfather to broadcaster and actor Fred Latremouille, Margaret's son from her prior marriage.[3]
His debut novel Royal Murdoch (1962) was the first of what is called his Linden Trilogy, set in the fictional small British Columbia town of Linden.[4] The other two novels in the trilogy were A Gift of Echoes (1965)[5] and Scann. His later novels were Making Arrangements (1978),[6] Paul Nolan (1983),[7] Felice: A Travelogue (1985),[8] The Saxophone Winter (1988)[9] and Necessary Dark (2002).[10]
He was also the writer of the screenplay for Larry Kent's 1965 film When Tomorrow Dies.[11]
In 2001, he was presented with a lifetime achievement award by the Vancouver Public Library and BC Bookworld.[12]
In the 2000s, with all of his novels out of print, he republished them all through Xlibris.