Thomas Robert Edward MacInnes was a Canadian poet and writer whose writings ranged from "vigorous, slangy recollections of the Yukon gold rush" to "a translation of and commentary on Lao-tzu's philosophy".
14 Facts About Tom MacInnes
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Tom MacInnes was born Thomas Robert Edward McInnes in Dresden, Ontario.
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Tom MacInnes moved to New Westminster with his family in 1874, and grew up there.
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Tom MacInnes studied law at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, Ontario, and was called to the bar in 1893.
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Tom MacInnes acted as private secretary to his father, the Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia, from 1898 until 1900.
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Tom MacInnes was still spelling his surname "McInnes" as of 1916.
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Tom MacInnes spent long periods in China, where he had business interests, between 1916 and 1927.
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Tom MacInnes wrote a series of articles on his Chinese experiences, published in 1926 in the Vancouver Morning Star and Vancouver Province, that became the basis of his 1927 book, Oriental Occupation of British Columbia.
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Tom MacInnes became a leading activist in the fascist scene, founding the Nationalist League of Canada.
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Tom MacInnes's poetry was popular in Canada in the first half of the 20th century.
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Tom MacInnes can be compared to Robert Service, not least in the fact of their popularity in Canada at the time.
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In some ways Tom MacInnes seems to have modeled his career on that of Service.
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Tom MacInnes's first published work, A Romance of the Lost, is a long yarn in rhyme about the Klondike Gold Rush, in the manner of the poems in Service's 1907 breakthrough work, Songs of a Sourdough.
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In 1913 Tom MacInnes released Rhymes of a Rounder, on the heels of Service's 1912 Rhymes of a Rolling Stone.