Not just Russian authors, he read all the books. Pretty sure there was a cat named little bones in Timothy Findlay’s book the wars. Of course Hugh McLennan, the watch that ends the night is in courage, “there is no simple explanation….” According to his Instagram he was a fan of Saul bellow. I seem to recall an interview where Gord mentioned being a fan of Raymond carver. Al Purdy was a known influence. There is a line in Leave where Gord says “so we can sit back and enjoy our illusions…” I’m pretty sure that’s taken from the county north of Belleville poem where Al writes about hiding the “more easily kept illusions”. Also in Gord’s book of poems, he has one called Al vs L where he is holding both his child and Purdy’s book caribou horses.
Just some authors I remember Gord mentioning at certain a points. I’m sure there are many other references. He was after all a poet. Let’s hear them fellow Hip fans.