Hal Foster on his upbringing in Canada
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SABA: ...Do you feel that your upbringing in Canada has had any
particular influence on the kind of work that you do, or in any way on
your life?

FOSTER: Oh, yes, greatly. It gave me all my backgrounds. I didn't do
very well in school. Of course, I always won a prize in drawing, but
so many kids in school were better than I was at learning, I suppose
that's why I went to the outdoors. Halifax harbor was such a romantic
place. Gosh, on a Summer day, look up the harbor, and the harbor is
just covered with white canvas.

...

SABA: It seems you had a very great sense of romance, even very
young, you always were more interested in the world of nature and life
as it was being lived, rather than what was being taught in school.

FOSTER: Yes. I was fairly interested in history, because I lived
where history was made--in Canada, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia. The
kind of history that appealed to me.