Lawrence Earl

Lawrence Earl Wiezel (April 29, 1915 – April 5, 2005), known professionally as Lawrence Earl, was a Canadian journalist and novelist.^[1] He is best known for his novels Yangtse Incident, which was adapted into the 1957 film Yangtse Incident: The Story of H.M.S. Amethyst, and The Battle of Baltinglass, which won the 1953 Stephen Leacock Award.^[2]

Born and raised in Saint John, New Brunswick,^[1] Earl worked as a journalist for the Montreal Standard, including a stint as a war correspondent and photojournalist in Europe during World War II.^[1] While working for the Standard, he met and married Jane Armstrong, who was herself one of Canada's first women war correspondents.^[1] In 1948, he published a photo essay, "Mending Dikes in the Netherlands", in National Geographic,^[1] and his photo of Queen Juliana appeared on the cover of TIME.^[1] He then took a job with the British magazine Illustrated;^[1] he and his family resided in London, England for the remainder of Earl's professional career, although they often returned to a family home in Grand Bay–Westfield near Saint John in the summer.^[1]

While living in London, Earl published both novels and non-fiction books, including Yangtse Incident (1950), The Battle of Baltinglass (1952), Crocodile Fever (1954), The Frozen Jungle (1955), She Loved a Wicked City (1962), The Riddle of a Haunted River (1962) and Risk (1969).

Following his wife Jane's death, Earl created the Jane Armstrong Earl Fund through the Greater Saint John Community Foundation.^[1] He received an honorary doctorate from the University of New Brunswick in 2001.^[1]

He died on April 5, 2005 in Saint John.^[1]

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