Shoeless Joe author passes away; chose assisted death

W.P. Kinsella, the B.C.-based author of “Shoeless Joe,” the award-winning novel that became the film “Field of Dreams,” has died at 81.

His literary agency confirms the writer had a doctor-assisted death on Friday in Hope, B.C. The agency did not provide details about Kinsella’s health.

Kinsella suffered a head injury when he was in a car accident in 1997. Three years after the accident, he said he had no interest in writing fiction and was spending his days playing Scrabble on the Internet.

He did start writing again and his literary agency said in a statement that Kinsella’s final work of fiction, “Russian Dolls,” will be published next year.

Kinsella published almost 30 books of fiction, non-fiction and poetry, and was a winner of the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia.

His 1982 magic-realist novel “Shoeless Joe,” about a farmer who hears a voice telling him to build a baseball field, was adapted into the popular Kevin Costner film “Field of Dreams.”

His agent Carolyn Swayze issued a statement on Friday saying Kinsella was “a unique, creative and outrageously opinionated man.”

Swayze said Kinsella persuaded her to become a literary agent in 1994 to represent his work.

“He was a dedicated story teller, performer, curmudgeon and irascible and difficult man,” her statement said.

His fiction made people laugh and cry, she added.

“Not a week has passed in the last 22 years, without (me) receiving a note of appreciation for Bill’s stories. His contribution will endure.”

Kinsella was born in Edmonton in 1935.

He began writing very early in life, winning a YMCA contest at the age of 14.

He took writing courses at the University of Victoria and earned a bachelor of arts in creative writing in 1974 and went on to complete a master of fine arts in English through the Iowa Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa.

Before becoming a professional author, Kinsella was a professor of English at the University of Calgary.

He is survived by his two daughters, who the agency said cared for him in his final years, and several grandchildren.

The agency said he asked not to have a memorial service.

Statement from Kinsella’s publicist:

W.P. (Bill) Kinsella invoked the assisted dying provisions of Bill C-14, at Hope, BC, and passed away at 12:05 p.m. PST Friday, September 16th, 2016.

William Patrick Kinsella is survived by his daughters, Erin Kinsella, who cared for him in his final years, and Shannon Kinsella, stepchildren, Scarlet and Aaron Gaffney, and Lyn Calendar, grandchildren Dennis Christopher Gane, Jason Kirk Kinsella, Kurtis William Kinsella, Max Knight Kinsella, as well as his best friends Lee and Maggie Harwood.

Bill was born in Edmonton, AB, May 25, 1935. In accordance with his wishes, there will be no memorial service.

He was a unique, creative and outrageously opinionated man. One of North America’s most prolific and popular authors, he published almost thirty books of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, which were was translated into many languages around the world.

His final work of fiction, RUSSIAN DOLLS, will be published in 2017 by Coteau Books. A winner of many awards and honours (including the Leacock Award and recognition as an Officer of the Order of Canada), he won many fans with his sly comic Hobbema Indian stories and shot to fame with the publication of his novel, SHOELESS JOE, which was adapted to become the film FIELD OF DREAMS.”

Following is a list of the works of W.P. Kinsella:

– Dance Me Outside (1977). A series of stories narrated by a young Cree man from what was then called Hobbema in central Alberta, and is now called Maskwacis; it was made into a Bruce McDonald film in 1994.

– Scars (1978). Another series of short stories about characters living in Hobbema.

– Shoeless Joe Jackson Comes to Iowa (1980). More short stories, including Kinsella’s first time writing about his most famous character.

– Born Indian (1981). More from Kinsella’s Hobbema characters, this time causing a riot on a nude beach in Vancouver and chit-chatting with the Queen in her bedroom.

– Shoeless Joe (1982). Kinsella’s best-known work, it spawned a Kevin Costner film called “Fields of Dreams” and the immortal line, “If you build it, he will come.”

–The Moccasin Telegraph (1983), The Thrill of the Grass (1984), The Alligator Report (1985). Three more books of short stories.

– The Iowa Baseball Confederacy (1986). A novel returning to Kinsella’s love of baseball.

– The Fencepost Chronicles (1987), The Further Adventures of Slugger McBatt (1988), The Miss Hobbema Pageant (1989), Red Wolf, Red Wolf (1990). Short stories revisiting Kinsella’s favourite characters and passions.

– Rainbow Warehouse (1990). A book of poetry written with Ann Knight.

– Box Socials (1992). Another baseball novel.

– The Dixon Cornbelt League and Other Baseball Stories (1993), Brother Frank’s Gospel Hour (1994).

– The Winter Helen Dropped By (1995). A novel about a young man and woman that included one of Kinsella’s mantras: “Every story is about sex or death, or sometimes both.”

– If Wishes Were Horses (1996). A novel that revisits Shoeless Joe’s protaganist in a tale about a newspaper writer on the run from the FBI.

– Diamonds Forever: Reflections from the Field, the Dugout & the Bleachers (1997). A non-fiction collection of stories told by baseball insiders.

– Magic Time (1998). A baseball novel.

– The Secret of the Northern Lights (1998), Japanese Baseball (2000). A return to short stories.

– Even at This Distance (2002). More poems with Ann Knight.

– Ichiro Dreams: Ichiro Suzuki and the Seattle Mariners (2002). A biography published only in Japan.

– Butterfly Winter (2011). A baseball novel.

– The Essential W.P. Kinsella (2015). A career retrospective.

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