Richard Ford's latest novel is called "Canada" and part of the story takes place in Saskatchewan. The interview with Stephen Colbert on the "Colbert Report" made it clear that Ford's experience in Canada inspired him to set part of the book and give the novel its title.
Ford talked about the time after George W. Bush became president.
"I drove across the border from Montana where I live to Saskatchewan and I felt the weight of the world lift off of me. I felt something marvelous had happened to me, some sense of elation. Well, I realized that I felt that every time I went to Canada. It wasn't just about not being in a country where George Bush was the president. It actually I thought had to do with Canada; there was something saving and tolerating and wonderful about Canada."
Colbert said he had a similar experience in Vancouver, where he went during the Olympics on 2010, but blamed it on a contact high.
Colbert asked Ford if there was something about the Canadian character that is different than the American character.
"Well, everybody's not armed there, for one thing."
Ford said he had been inspired to write this book since 1989. The logical assumption is that this was the first time Ford had gone to Canada.
He grew up in Mississippi, nowhere near Canada. Living in Montana makes the trip to Canada much easier. Ford clearly took advantage of those opportunities, and decided to pay tribute to a country he clearly enjoys. And his accolades for the Great White North were well-written, even if he just said them to Stephen Colbert.
Ford's book "Independence Day" became the first novel to win the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
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