Earl McRae's writing is his monument

The sudden death this weekend of Earl McRae, an award-winning columnist and author, gives us the opportunity to recall his contribution to Canadian magazine journalism -- namely his superlative profiles, mostly published in the weekend supplement The Canadian. He died of a massive heart attack in the newsroom of the Ottawa Sun, where he had lately been a columnist. He was 69.Roy McGregor, the

Remembering Mark Nichols, pioneer of Maclean's technology and science coverage

Mark Nichols was a highly respected magazine journalist, known best for his writing about science, who died recently and is being remembered by friends and family with a reception at his family's home on Thursday night, September 29 at 621 St. Clarens Avenue, Toronto (for further information write to macleod[at]stauber-nichols[dot]ca.) Nichols worked as a writer for Canadian Press, Reuters, Time

Mistress of the makeover at Chatelaine dies age 89

Today's Globe and Mail carries an obituary of Eveleen Dollery who, in the 60s and 70s as fashion and beauty editor of Chatelaine, started the concept of the "makeover" for her readers. Dollery died in Toronto on August 4 at the age of 89. Writer Susan Ferrier MacKay noted that Dollery was responsible for the launch of Canada's first teenage magazine Miss Chatelaine, which some years later morphed

Charles Oberdorf dies; writer, editor, teacher, friend

It will come as a matter of great sadness to many of his friends and colleagues in the magazine business, as it has to me, to hear that Charles Oberdorf died this morning. 
Charles was well known as writer, editor and teacher and was widely loved and respected. 
There will apparently be a private family funeral and arrangements are to be made for a celebration of his life sometime later, probably

Rae Murphy, progressive journalist,author, member of edit board of Last Post magazine, dies

Rae Murphy, one of the  stalwarts of the alternative newsmagazine Last Post in the early '70s, has died in Toronto.  A death notice is in today's Globe and Mail.
Murphy, a bred-in-the-bone journalist who in later years was professor of journalism, and later of Canadian studies, at Conestoga College of Applied Arts and Technology in Kitchener in addition to editing and writing for the magazine was

Don Baron made Country Guide "a great farm magazine"

The funeral will be held Saturday for the noted farm writer and former editor of one of Canada's most prominent farm publications, Country Guide magazine, who has died at the age of 82.  Don Baron was a longtime author, editor and farm journalist and an outspoken critic of regulation in the grain industry of western Canada. He joined in 1952 as assistant editor, became editor in chief 10 years

Founding editor of Tamarack Review, Ivon Owen, dies

A funeral service is being held today (Saturday) for one of the founding editors of one of Canada's most influential literary magazines, the Tamarack Review. Ivon Maclean Owen died November 10 in Toronto at the age of 87. According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, Tamarack was founded during lean times for literary journals but went on to publish the early work of many distinguished Canadian writers

Well-known Canadian magazine writer David Lees has died

[This post has been updated] Well-known Canadian magazine writer David Lees died Tuesday, according to a post on Masthead. He was 63 and had long struggled against cancer. Since 1977, Lees has won eight medals, two gold and six silver and been nominated 10 times at the National Magazine Awards for stories in magazines including Toronto Life, Cottage Life and Canadian Geographic, according to a

A sorry day with the passing of Cynthia Brouse

[This post has been updated] Even though many of us knew it was coming, the death of Cynthia Brouse is a profound loss. Her many friends and admirers, her students, her many, many readers will all be stricken by no longer having this vibrant, determined and immensely talented woman among us. She had been in palliative care in Toronto for some weeks as her struggle with cancer neared its end. 

Margo Oliver, one of Canada's best magazine food editors, dead at 87

Margo Oliver, a "glamorous" magazine food writer and author of seven best-selling cookbooks, has died in Ottawa at the age of 87. Her death notice was published in the Globe and Mail.(Her married name was Margaret Morgan.) She was the food editor for Weekend magazine and its successor Today from 1959 to 1982, during which time it was estimated she produced more than 9,600 kitchen-tested recipes

John Norris, founder of Coda, the jazz magazine, dies at age of 76

John Norris, the founder of Coda, Canada's best known and longest-running jazz magazine and co-founder, with Bill Smith, of Sackville Recordings, died on January 31 at the age of 76. Norris was widely known as a promoter and enthusiast for jazz in Toronto and elsewhere.  After emigrating from England and run clubs such as the Traditional Jazz Club of Toronto and the Galleon, he founded Coda in

Magazine writer, novelist, musician Paul Quarrington dies at the age of 56

There's a great sense of loss in Canadian arts and letters about the death early this morning of Paul Quarrington, who died of lung cancer at the age of 56. Quarrington was a man of many talents, starting off studying film then gaining attention in music, moving on to writing and novels and winning three National Magazine Awards as well as the 1989 Governor General's Award for his novel Whale

Poet P.K. Page, a stalwart of Malahat Review and other small magazines, dead at 93

Very sorry to learn that poet P.K. Page, a National Magazine Award winner and the grand dame of Canadian poetry, has died at the age of 93, in Victoria. As CBC News reports   said, Page was considered one of Canada's most esteemed writers and a champion of small-scale publishing. Page was born in England and moved to Red Deer, Alberta in 1919, moving frequently with her father, who was a soldier.

Founder of the Medical Post dead at 86

The man who conceived the Medical Post has died. A death notice in the Globe and Mail says that Bob Robertson passed away at the age of 86 after an accident.

He had been retired for 23 years after a 44-year career at Maclean Hunter, where he started as a 17 year old in the mail room and worked his way up to be vice-president of its business publications division. He served as a director of

Illustrator Jerzy Kolacz dies

Sorry to have word, via Mastheadonline, that illustrator and painter Jerzy Kolacz has died at the age of 70. I was on the staff of The City magazine, a short-lived weekly glossy supplement to the Toronto Sunday Star ( the magazine was published 1977 - 1980) when Kolacz arrived in Toronto in 1978 and brought his portfolio around looking for work.Almost immediately, The City -- and many other

More on Barbara Moon

For those interested in more background about the late Barbara Moon (see earlier post about her death), there is one of Sandra Martin's usual, excellent obituary articles in the Globe and Mail today, headed: She was tough and smart and (some) people loved her.

Respected magazine editor Barbara Moon dies

[This post has been updated] Much, doubtless, will be written in recollection in the days to come about Barbara Moon, known to many as one of Canada's most outstanding magazine editors and writers. According to a death notice in the Globe and Mail, she died last Wednesday near her home in retirement, Picton, Ontario, after a brief illness. She is survived by her husband, Wynne Thomas.Barbara was

Derek Weiler, editor of Quill & Quire dies, aged 40

[This post has been updated] Derek Weiler, the editor of Quill & Quire, the magazine for the library and book trade, passed away suddenly on Sunday at 40. The death was announced in a posting on the magazine's website.Weiler graduated from the University of Waterloo with Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in English Literature, and from Centennial College in Toronto with a Certificate in

Hugh McCullum "risked all for a just cause"

If an obituary can be inspiring, the Globe and Mail's tribute to Hugh McCullum in today's paper certainly is. McCullum, who died in October of pancreatic cancer, was well-known as the crusading editor of The United Church Observer magazine and, before that the Canadian Churchman (Anglican Church). He was the first layperson to edit both and, notes the article, "was credited with infusing the

Constance Rooke, former Malahat editor, dead at 65

Constance Rooke, a former editor of The Malahat Review, a former president of PEN Canada and a champion of Canadian literature, has died at the age of 65. She and her husband Leon also founded the Eden Mills Writer's Festival.