Interment will be in Oakhill Cemetery where his father and mother are buried. Pallbearers had not been selected today, but in compliance with the author’s wish, will be Owosso residents.
BLOOD GIVING FAILS
Death came to the writer of stories of the Northlands at his home, “Curwood Castle,” here, after a desperate battle against the infection that steadily sapped his strength. In an effort to stay the ravages of the infection, a daughter, Mrs. Antonio P. Jirus, of Detroit, gave of her blood in a transfusion operation.
After rallying somewhat, the author weakened again rapidly and his physicians announced that his death was a matter of hours only.
Curwood was born in Owosso on June 12, 1878, the son of James Moran and Abigail (Griffen) Curwood, and spent his boyhood near Vermillion, Ohio, his family later returning to Owosso. He attended the University of Michigan. He spent the greater part of his life at his birthplace.
FIRST NOVEL IN 1908
“The Courage of Captain Plum,” his first novel, was written in 1908, after he had spent seven years in newspaper work.
From then on the books flowed from his pen. There followed “The Wolf Hunters,” 1908; “The Great Lakes,” and “The Gold Hunters,” in 1909; “The Danger Trail,” in 1910; “The Honor of the Big Snows,” and “Philip Steele of the Royal Mounted,” written in 1911.
Others of his novels included “Kazan,” 1914; “Nomads of the North,” 1919; “The Valley of Silent Men,” 1920; and “The Flaming Forest,” in 1921, and his latest “The Black Hunter.” Writing was in Curwood’s blood. On his father’s side, he was descended from Captain Marrayat, the novelist.
A zealous crusader for conservation of natural resources, Curwood was considered an authority on the Canadian northland, and was the only American ever employed by the Canadian government as an exploratory and descriptive writer.