June 27, 2017 / Tom

Travels to Newfoundland with Alan Collier

In 1963, my father and mother (Alan and Ruth Collier) and I traveled to Newfoundland for the first time. Our rig was a travel trailer and a Land Rover. We had pulled into a service station because Dad thought there was a problem with one of the trailer springs.

Just as he crawled under the wheel well to have a look, Claire and Farley Mowat arrived in the same service station. Claire said to Farley, “That must be Alan Collier. He told us he was coming to Newfoundland this summer.” (Claire was a student of my father’s at the Ontario College of Art.) My father and Farley had never met but Dad was a big fan and in awe of celebrity, like most of us. So there he was, lying on his back, partially under the trailer and Farley sauntered over, looked down and said,”My God, you’re the artist, Alan Collier.” To say that Dad was speechless would be an understatement.

It was the beginning of a life-long friendship.

-Ian Collier, son of Alan Collier