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Mowat has fond memories of boyhood hometown author Eartey ' Belleville-born Mowat thinks IVi erected an impres~sfve~slaTue of him- clad only in a maple leaf. In a more serious tone Mowat says he has "fond memories" of the city where he lived until he was 10. His family lodged in an apartment above the public library where his father, Angus, was chief librarian. Mowat was in Belleville Wednes- day to autograph copies of his latest book. It seems Mowat's conversations resemble his literature in their characteristic blend of serious issues and comic spice. "I use humor to make things more palatable," says the author whose latest work, My Discovery of America, stems from his experience of being refused entry to the United States in April of this year. The book, published by McClelland and Stewart Limited, "was written for a purpose - to assist the civil rights movement," he says. The American government's McCarran-Walter Act, which enabled him to be barred from the country, needs to be amended, Mowat says. He calls it "a totalitarian act" which didn't grant him an explanation for his sudden undesirability. Of his 28 published books, including the latest, Mowat says the one closest to his heart is And No Birds Sang (1979), "because of its message." Mowat calls the book "a cry against war." Since completing My Discovery of America, which has already sold 31,000 copies in Canada, Mowat has been involved in promotional events, such as the book signing session which brought him to W. and R. Greenley Booksellers. But he now plans to devote much time to movie making, having established Norwolf Film Corpora- tion last week. Work on the film ver- sion of Lost in the Barrens is under- way and Mowat says he would even- tually like to do a feature on The Dog Who Wouldn't Be. Mowat and his wife Claire, who is also an author, currently call Port Hope and Cape Breton Island "home." Farley Mowat signing autographs in Belleville. (Staff photo)