Gary Lautens (November 3, 1928 – February 1, 1992) was a Canadian

humorist A humorist (American) or humourist (British spelling) is an intellectual who uses humor, or wit, in writing or public speaking, but is not an artist who seeks only to elicit laughs. Humorists are distinct from comedians, who are show business e ...

and newspaper

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (newspaper), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the fo ...

. He wrote for the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'' from 1962 until his death in 1992.

Biography

Lautens was born on November 3, 1928, in

Fort William, Ontario Fort William was a city in Ontario, Canada, located on the Kaministiquia River, at its entrance to Lake Superior. It amalgamated with Port Arthur and the townships of Neebing and McIntyre to form the city of Thunder Bay in January 1970. Since th ...

, to Joe and Bertha Lautens. The family relocated to

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

where his father, a Canadian Press employee for 50 years, was a teletype operator and mechanic servicing CP machines in the area from an office in the Hamilton Spectator. Lautens began working for the ''Spectator'' after school and in the summers when he was just 13 years old. After graduating from Central Collegiate Institute in 1946, Lautens went on to study history at

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood and Westdale, adjacent to the Royal Botanical Ga ...

where he was the editor of the campus newspaper ''

The Silhouette ''The Silhouette'' (founded circa 1930) is a student newspaper at McMaster University, located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The masthead staff consists of the Editor-in-Chief, a recently graduated student from McMaster, and approximately 15 pai ...

'' from 1948 to 1950. On graduation Lautens joined the Spectator as a reporter in 1950. He became a sports columnist in 1954 and later served as the paper's assistant sports editor. Fans of the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

once burned Lautens in

effigy An effigy is an often life-size sculptural representation of a specific person, or a prototypical figure. The term is mostly used for the makeshift dummies used for symbolic punishment in political protests and for the figures burned in certai ...

after he had written something unflattering about the team in the newspaper. He met his wife, Jackie, in 1957 when she was a contestant and he was a judge in the annual "Miss Tigercat" pageant. Together they had three children: Richard, Stephen and Jane. 1YongeStreetTorontoStar

In 1962, Lautens was hired by the ''Star'' to replace

Pierre Berton Pierre Francis de Marigny Berton, CC, O.Ont. (July 12, 1920 – November 30, 2004) was a Canadian writer, journalist and broadcaster. Berton wrote 50 best-selling books, mainly about Canadiana, Canadian history and popular culture. He also wr ...

. At the ''Star'', Lautens became the most widely read columnist in Canada. In 1982, Lautens was named

managing editor A managing editor (ME) is a senior member of a publication's management team. Typically, the managing editor reports directly to the editor-in-chief and oversees all aspects of the publication. United States In the United States, a managing edito ...

of the ''Star'', and successfully increased the paper's circulation and profits even in the midst of an economic

recession In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction when there is a general decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be triggered by various ...

. He held the position for two years before returning to writing his humour column. On his time as managing editor, Lautens commented: "More important than the commercial success, however, has been the stand The Star has taken on issues I personally consider important - nuclear disarmament, drunk driving, acid rain, medicare, unemployment, the rape of our natural resources." Lautens published four books during his lifetime. He was awarded a

National Newspaper Award The National Newspaper Awards (french: link=no, Concours canadien de journalisme) are prizes awarded annually for the best work in Canadian newspapers. Synopsis The awards were first given in 1949 by the Toronto Press Club, which ran the awards un ...

(1963) and was a two-time winner of the

Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour The Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour, also known as the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour or just the Leacock Medal, is an annual literary award presented for the best book of humour written in English by a Canadian writer, published or self ...

(1981 and 1984). Two further books collecting some of his most popular columns – ''Peace, Mrs. Packard and the Meaning of Life'' (1993) and ''The Best of Gary Lautens'' (1995) – were published posthumously. In addition to his newspaper writing, Lautens hosted occasional television and radio programming on

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

. He was staff writer for many seasons of the iconic CBC series

Front Page Challenge ''Front Page Challenge'' was a Canadian panel game about current events and history. Created by comedy writer/performer John Aylesworth (of the comedy team of Frank Peppiatt and John Aylesworth) and produced and aired by CBC Television, the seri ...

and appeared, for two seasons, as a panelist on It's Your Choice. His younger brother Trevor Lautens was a long-time columnist for the ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...

'', his youngest son Richard Lautens is an acclaimed photojournalist for the Toronto Star and oldest son

Stephen Lautens Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; h ...

is also a noted Canadian newspaper columnist.

Death

Lautens died on February 1, 1992, after suffering a massive heart attack at his home in downtown Toronto. Upon news of Lautens' death, thousands of readers turned up at the ''Star'' offices, lining up for three days to sign books of condolence.

Lincoln Alexander Lincoln MacCauley Alexander (January 21, 1922 – October 19, 2012) was a Canadian lawyer who became the first Black Canadian member of Parliament in the House of Commons, the first Black federal Cabinet Minister (as federal Minister of Labou ...

remarked: "He was a great guy ... So full of light, so full of humour. My close friend. His smile and humour will be sorely missed." Following Lautens's death the Gary Lautens Memorial Scholarship was established at McMaster to assist students with high academic standing and demonstrating written journalistic skill. In 2002 Lautens family donated his papers, including correspondence, columns, scrapbooks and photographs, to

McMaster University Library McMaster University Library is the academic library system for the faculties of McMaster Faculty of Humanities, Humanities, McMaster Faculty of Social Sciences, Social Sciences, McMaster Faculty of Engineering, Engineering, McMaster Faculty of Sci ...

William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conques ...

. In 2016 it was announced that the archives would become home to the copy of Lautens' 1984 column "Why can't the Queen shop Honest Ed's?" that had been on display outside Toronto's iconic

Honest Ed's Honest Ed's was a landmark discount store in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was named for its proprietor, Ed Mirvish, who opened the store in 1948 and oversaw its operations for almost 60 years until his death in 2007. The store continued to operat ...

for 31 years.

Books

* ''Laughing with Lautens'' (1964) * ''Take My Family...Please!'' (1980) * ''No Sex Please...We're Married'' (1983) * ''How Pierre and I Saved the Civilized World'' (1984) * ''Peace, Mrs. Packard and the Meaning of Life'' (1993) * ''The Best of Gary Lautens'' (1995)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lautens, Gary 1928 births 1992 deaths Canadian humour columnists McMaster University alumni Writers from Thunder Bay Stephen Leacock Award winners