MATTHEW STEFANSON
Arts Writer

You don’t know who Brian Jacques is, at least not right away.

If I told you that he was a man from Liverpool who worked as a merchant sailor before becoming a children’s author and all-around good guy, it wouldn’t ring a bell, but if I told you what he has made, it might.

Brian Jacques wrote the Redwall series, which later became a cartoon produced by Canada’s own Teletoon. Brian Jacques created Martin the Warrior, and Basil Stag Hare. Brian Jacques created Cluny the Scourge and a three headed snake monster that still rests somewhere in my subconscious. Brian Jacques wrote for decades about a world where people (as represented by adorable critters) were decent to each other and occasionally fought off angry rodents.

I grew up with the Redwall series. The earliest of the series, Redwall, is a year older than I am so by the time I was interested in books I had a full schedule. I devoured this series. The wit, the charm and the quintessentially British aspect of the characters are a joy to behold.

The most obvious thing about the books is how much Jacques cared about them. There is emotion on every page. The characters are sympathetic in the only way that field mice and squirrels can be, but it’s not just their adorable nature that makes them such a delight.

Jacques has an amazing ability to draw sympathy out of the reader. Something in his words evokes a reaction that not only causes empathy, but makes you a more decent human being. A bit grand, yes, but if we all saw the world in Jacques’ rose-coloured hue, wouldn’t it be a better place?

Over the last 24 years he has built a universe around a collection of anthropomorphic animals that delighted children worldwide and created a generation of young people who hate their cats for not being able to speak or hold a sword.

Jacques had only the most rabid supporters, who would fight tooth and nail against his detractors, if only they could be found. The worst that can be said of him is that he was little known. His name didn’t carry the weight of a C.S. Lewis, certainly not the critical aplomb of a Roald Dahl. He was in some ways a B-list children’s writer (which probably places him somewhere around D-list in the literary criticism scale) but he was a luminary, despite his lack of press.

But all the merits of his writing, or the delightful wit and charm of his characters aside, Brian Jacques’ death is a loss to the world for the simple reason that he was a caring and splendid human being. In the late ’80s, Brian was working as a delivery driver. On his route was the Royal Wavertree School for the Blind, where Brian would deliver milk. Brian was a regular visitor to the children at the school, and a well-loved friend. He would often visit with them to tell jokes, pass on kind words and tell stories. His first novel, Redwall, was written as a means to delight these blind children; and he was only their milkman.

Think about that. How often have you, or anyone you know, neglected to hold a door open for someone because it would steal a minute from your day?

Brian Jacques is better than you, me and the Pope, and now he’s dead. We should all be furious about that.

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illustration: Matthew Stefanson