Dr Robert Stuart Thomson

April 30, 1940 – July 17, 2023.

Robert Thomson, was born in Vancouver in 1940. He graduated from West Vancouver High School (1958), then completed his B.A. (honors French and Italian) at the University of British Columbia (1962). From there he went to Yale on a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship and received his Ph.D in 1966. His thesis dealt with the theme of love in the works of François Mauriac. His thesis director was Henri Peyre. Thomson taught at a few universities (U. of Toronto, Emory, University of Illinois) and in time switched to teaching high school.

Since retiring early (1995) Thomson set up his own publishing company, Godwin Books. One of his major projects was to republish two books by George Godwin (1889-1974), that had been out of print for many years: The Eternal Forest (1929) and Why Stay we Here? (1930). Both of these reprints have received favorable reviews. George Godwin was Thomson’s mother’s father’s younger brother.