If you’ve been living in Leaside all your life you may know about him, but for those who haven’t been, allow me to introduce you to Terence M. Green, Randolph Rd.
Terence is an accomplished science fiction writer, with eight books published in his 40-year writing career – a huge accomplishment, and for anyone who knows about getting published, extremely difficult to achieve.
The 69-year-old author is also a devoted family man, who loves spending time with his wife and three kids in Leaside. He moved to his current home in 2002, but he would describe it as returning home to Leaside, since he lived here from 1978-1985 as well.
Terence started thinking of moving back to Leaside when his son, Daniel, was born. “I had fond memories of living in the Leaside area and wanted my son to grow up in a family-oriented neighbourhood,” he says. “It was the small town atmosphere in the middle of the big city and the great schools that led me to believe that Leaside would be the perfect place for my growing family.”
Much of his writing is inspired by the area. He has frequently mentioned well-known spots around Leaside in his books. Laird Dr., Commercial Rd. and residential Leaside factor in early chapters of his novel “Blue Limbo,” published in 1997. “My own experience and my family history (going back for generations) have been my inspiration. There are stories there aplenty,” he notes. Terence uses his rich family background and his own memories of the neighbourhood that any Leasider will recognize.
Less recognizable, though, may be some of his sci-fi themes. Many of his novels deal with complex theories of time travel. “Shadow of Ashland,” for instance, which he wrote as a series of three books, incorporates elaborate time travel plot lines. Others, like “Blue Limbo,” deal with bringing the dead back to life. His most recent novel, “Sailing Time’s Ocean,” tells of a man sent back in time from the future to a 19th century prison.
Over the course of his career in writing, Terence has been in the running numerous times for some of the most prestigious awards in the science fiction world – twice for the World Fantasy Award, multiple times for the Prix Aurora Awards. Now, with the advent of digital technology, all his works have been transferred to e-books and are available for download on various formats. As he says, “The world clearly is changing in an almost revolutionary way; I’m changing with it.”
These days you can find Terence imparting his wisdom to the next generation of writers as he teaches creative writing part-time at Western University in London, Ont. He has also taught at Mohawk College as a writer-in-residence and as an English teacher at East York Collegiate. As a member of the East York Board of Education, he collaborated with teachers in Leaside by editing community works like the “Cornucopia,” the East York student anthology of student art and writing.
Any sci-fi fan – indeed any resident of Leaside – should try his novels. Terence left me with a final thought: “Writing, teaching, parenting…and a house in Leaside. How lucky can a guy get?” www.tmgreen.com
Leaside is full of authors we don’t hear much about, but would probably like to. If you have recently had a new book published, get in touch: .
Article written by Terence M. Green.
