Sous-fonds SF25 - Lorne and Edith Pierce collection. Norman Duncan sous-fonds

Norman Duncan was born in July of 1871 in Brantford, Ontario, a son of Augustus and Susan (Hawley) Duncan. He attended the University of Toronto, though he never graduated. At university, he was a friend of William Lyon Mackenzie King. From 1897 to 1901 Duncan was on the staff of The New York Evening Post. After 1900, he lived mainly in the United States. In 1902, Duncan was appointed professor of rhetoric at Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania, a position he held until 1906, when he became adjunct professor of English literature at the University of Kansas. Duncan made several trips to Newfoundland and Labrador, which he then used as a setting for some of his books, including Doctor Luke of the Labrador, a novel featuring a thinly-veiled Wilfred Grenfell as its protagonist. From 1907 to 1908 he was correspondent of Harper's Magazine in Syria, Palestine, Arabia and Egypt. Duncan published over 20 books, including short stories, novels, and travel journalism.