Claire Mackay (December 21, 1930 - August 11, 2013) was a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
writer of eleven books for children and young-adult fiction and non-fiction.
Early life and education
Mackay was born Claire Lorraine Bacchus. She was raised in Toronto, Ontario. Mackay received a scholarship to the University of Toronto, where she earned an honors BA in Political Science.
Career
Mackay began her writing career by writing newsletter, newspaper and magazine articles. She was motivated to write her first children's book when she found that there was a lack of books about mini-bikes for her son to read. She wrote ''Mini-Bike Hero'' in 1979, which was published by Scholastic Canada. The book sold more than 450,00 copies. Mackay wrote two more related books, ''Mini-Bike Race'' and ''Mini-Bike Rescue''.
Mackay was one of the eleven co-founders of the Canadian Society of Children's Authors, Illustrators and Performers (CANSCAIP).
Mackay's work has been published by
Annick Press,
Kids Can Press
Kids Can Press is a Canadian-owned publisher of children's books, with a catalog near 1000 picture books and 500 e-books, non-fiction and fiction titles for toddlers to young adults. The Kids Can Press list includes characters such as Franklin ...
, James Lorimer,
Scholastic Canada
Scholastic Corporation () is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, parents, and children. Products are distributed via retail and on ...
, and Tundra Books.
Personal
While at the University of Toronto, Claire met Jackson Mackay, an engineering student and later a chemical engineer for Imperial Oil. They married in 1952 and had three sons. The family moved several times to accommodate Jack's work, living in
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
, Regina, and Sarnia, before finally settling in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
.
Claire Mackay died on August 11, 2013, at the age of 82 from cancer.
Awards
In 1982 Mackay and co-author Marsha Hewitt received the Ruth Schwartz Award for their Young Adult novel ''One Proud Summer'' (Women's Press). In 1983 she received the Vicki Metcalf Award, presented for an outstanding body of work in children's literature, and in 1988 for ''Marvin and Me and the Flies''.
Bibliography
* ''Mini-Bike Hero'' 1974
* ''Mini-Bike Racer'' 1976
* ''Exit Barney McGee'' 1979
* ''Mini-Bike Rescue'' 1982
* ''The Minerva Program'' 1984
* ''Marvin and Me and the Flies'' in ''Canadian children's annual, 12'' 1987
* ''Pay Cheques and Picket Lines: All About Unions in Canada'' 1987
* ''The Toronto Story'' 1990
* ''Touching all the Bases: Baseball for Kids of All Ages'' 1994
* ''First Folks and Vile Voyageurs'' 2001
Co-authored books
* ''One Proud Summer'' Hewitt, Marsha, and Mackay, Claire 1981
* ''Bats About Baseball'' Little, Jean, and Mackay, Claire 1985
"BATS ABOUT BASEBALL"
''Kirkus Review''.
References
External links
Profile by CANSCAIP
Profile by The Canadian Children's Book Centre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mackay, Claire
1930 births
2013 deaths
Canadian children's writers
University of Toronto alumni
Writers from Toronto