The Real Mystery of Tom Thomson: His Art and His Life

Although much has been written about Tom Thomson's mysterious death, little to nothing has been written about his life's accomplishment: how in less than four years, a man with little experience and no art school education was able to create hundreds of paintings that have captured the nation's imagination for almost a century. This is the real Tom Thomson mystery, and it is a story worth telling.

Richard Weiser is a multi-talented, versatile writer of prose, poetry, lyrics and ad copy. He started his working life in broadcast journalism after which he returned to school to study creative writing with Governor General’s Award winner Don Coles and Robert Casto. After university, Richard tripped and fell into a career in advertising, and recently won a Cannes Lion (advertising’s version of the Oscar). He has been a speaker at industry events and lectured at Humber College School of Advertising. Richard grew up in Scarborough, a suburb of Toronto, where he made sci-fi movies, played Dungeons & Dragons and ran from bullies. He ＂discovered＂ Tom Thomson in grade 6, and like Thomson, he loved the scenery of Central Ontario’s Muskoka Region, eventually becoming a (pretty good) canoeist. Richard graduated Seneca College for Radio and Television Arts 1989 with high honours and York University with an Hons. BA in English Literature 1996 (Dean’s List). He also attended Humber School for Writers in 2014, where he worked on his Tom Thomson manuscript with Olive Senior. He is a member of the League of Canadian Poets and SOCAN. His poetry has been published internationally in journals such as HCE, Acumen and Gravel, and his play, Jishin, was produced at The Toronto Fringe Festival. Richard lives in Toronto with his partner and two children.