HAROLD HORWOOD combined a literary ambition with early experience as a labour union organizer and a close collaborator of Newfoundland's first premier Joey Smallwood in the campaign for Confederation. He later became an author, and with his organizing experience was the natural choice as founding vice-chair of The Writers' Union of Canada and later chair, 1980-81. He was the author 24 books in total; five fiction, many types of non-fiction, and one poetry anthology. He was appointed to the Order of Canada in 1980.