author
Harry McDonald Walters
1863–1920
A Canadian writer with a sharp eye for bureaucracy and a taste for unusual ideas, this early 20th-century author is remembered for both light verse and an imaginative novel. His work ranges from witty civil-service satire to one of those delightfully odd books that still feels fresh today.
2 Audiobooks
Wesblock, the autobiography of an automaton
by Harry McDonald Walters
Civil service jingles and other things
by Harry McDonald Walters
About the author
Born in 1863, Harry McDonald Walters was a Canadian author whose surviving books show two very different sides of his writing. In Civil Service Jingles and Other Things (1911), he turned everyday official life into humorous verse and sketches, suggesting a writer who knew bureaucracy from the inside and enjoyed poking fun at its routines.
He is also known for Wesblock, the Autobiography of an Automaton, a novel set partly in Montreal and published in the early 20th century. Its strange, inventive premise gives it a surprisingly modern feel, blending satire, storytelling, and speculation in a way that still stands out.
Library and public-domain records identify him as living from 1863 to 1920. Detailed biographical information appears to be scarce, but the work that remains paints a picture of an author drawn to both comedy and experiment.