Once upon a time Andrew Pyper called Stratford home.
The popular author is being remembered by family and friends after his death, including an outpouring of love and support from an old pal from the Festival City.
He leaves behind wife Heidi and their children, Maude and Ford.
The Stratford native, who has lived in Toronto for three decades, passed away last week of complications from cancer, age 56.
His first novel, Lost Girls, started a career of award-winning thrillers, a total of 14 novels, with many earning awards and becoming best-sellers.
The news came as a shock to the artistic community and many people found out as the result of a Facebook post by one of Pyper’s closest friends, Stratford City Councillor Larry McCabe, also owner of Pazzo and Bouffon restaurants in the downtown core.
The two first met playing Rotary hockey in Stratford.
“I just pulled up a picture of us playing on Morris Plumbing back in the day. He stands so tall and confidently, that was kind of my first reaction to Andrew. He was always very secure with what he was doing and did it all very well.”
McCabe said Pyper was respectful and easy to be around, something McCabe explained was a result of a solid family unit.
“Having seen that household and having spent a lot of time on Joffre Street in the basement getting up to no good, having conversations with Dr. Pyper and the rest of the family, they weren’t sure what to do with me but they were always respectful and graceful.”
McCabe said his friend had been suffering from cancer for about a year but didn’t advertise it.
“He kept things close to his chest. He was very much focused on his family. I was surprised at the end. I thought of him as indomitable and thought he would overcome. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case here. He was in his prime as a writer and a person.”
Pyper attended McGill University where he studied English literature and graduated with both an Honours BA and a master’s degree before chasing a law degree at the University of Toronto.
He would never practice law but instead turned to writing.
“I think he became one of the most important writers of the last 20 years in Canadian literature. The quality of his work is incredible. He is a literary craftsman of some note but the genre he chose is the thriller and that doesn’t necessarily get the kind of respect it is due,” added McCabe.
A memorial is being planned in Toronto and donations can be made in Pyper’s memory to Tree Canada.
A celebration of life will be held in Stratford at a later date. You can read Pyper’s obituary here.
