Key Porter Books was a

book publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

company based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1979 by

Anna Porter Anna Maria Porter, is a Canadian publisher and novelist. Life and career Born Anna Szigethy in Budapest, she emigrated to New Zealand in 1956. She received a bachelor's degree and Master of Arts degree from the University of Canterbury. She star ...

, later well known as a writer, the company specialized in Canadian

non-fiction Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with be ...

, although it published some fiction too. It ceased operations in January 2011.

Writers

Key Porter published books by authors including

Farley Mowat Farley McGill Mowat, (May 12, 1921 – May 6, 2014) was a Canadian writer and environmentalist. His works were translated into 52 languages, and he sold more than 17 million books. He achieved fame with the publication of his books on the Can ...

Claire Mowat Claire Angel Mowat (born 5 February 1933) is a Canadian writer and environmentalist. Personal life Born on February 5, 1933, Mowat (née Wheeler) was raised and educated in Toronto, Ontario. She graduated from Havergal College and the Ontario Co ...

Allan Fotheringham Allan Fotheringham (August 31, 1932August 19, 2020) was a Canadian newspaper and magazine journalist. He styled himself Dr. Foth and "the Great Gatheringfroth". He was described as "never at a loss for words". Early life Fotheringham was born ...

Conrad Black Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour (born 25 August 1944), is a Canadian-born British former newspaper publisher, businessman, and writer. His father was businessman George Montegu Black II, who had significant holdings in Canadi ...

Erika Ritter Erika Ritter (born 26 April 1948) is a Canadian playwright and humorist. Born in Regina, Saskatchewan, she attended Sacred Heart Academy for High School, studied drama at McGill University and the University of Toronto. In addition to her publi ...

Pamela Wallin Pamela Wallin (born April 10, 1953) is a Canadian senator, former television journalist, and diplomat. She was appointed to the senate on January 2, 2009, where she initially sat as a Conservative. Early life and career Wallin was born in W ...

George Bowering George Harry Bowering, (born December 1, 1935) is a prolific Canadian novelist, poet, historian, and biographer. He was the first Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate. He was born in Penticton, British Columbia, and raised in the nearby town o ...

Diane Francis Diane Marie Francis (born 1946) is an US-born British people, British-Canadian journalist, author and editor-at-large for the ''National Post'' newspaper since 1998. She is a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council in Washington, D. ...

Joan Barfoot Joan Louise Barfoot (born May 17, 1946) is a Canadian novelist. She has published 11 novels, including ''Luck'' (2005), which was a nominee for the 2005 Scotiabank Giller Prize, and ''Critical Injuries'' (2001), which was longlisted for the 2002 M ...

Maude Barlow Maude Victoria Barlow (born May 24, 1947) is a Canadian author and activist. She is a founding member of the Council of Canadians, a citizens' advocacy organization with members and chapters across Canada. She is also the co-founder of the Blue ...

, Stevie Cameron,

Brian Lee Crowley Brian Lee Crowley (born 1955) is a Canadian political economist, author, and public policy commentator. Since 2010 he has been managing director of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, a think tank in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. From 1995 until about ...

, Dennis Lee,

Mark Bourrie Mark Bourrie (born 1959 or 1960) is a Canadian journalist and author. He has worked as a contract lecturer at Carleton University and the University of Ottawa. In 2020, his biography of Pierre-Esprit Radisson, ''Bushrunner: The Adventures of Pi ...

Paul Cellucci Argeo Paul Cellucci (; April 24, 1948 – June 8, 2013) was an American politician and diplomat from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. A Republican, he served as the 69th governor of Massachusetts from 1999 to 2001, and as the United States Amb ...

Jean Chrétien Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien (; born January 11, 1934) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 20th prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003. Born and raised in Shawinigan Falls, Quebec, Chrétien is a law graduate from Uni ...

, M.A.C. Farrant and

Cleo Paskal Cleo Paskal is a Non-Resident Senior Fellow for the Indo-Pacific at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Senior Fellow at the Usanas Foundation, Fellow at the Conference of Defence Associations Institute, Fellow at the Canadian Global Aff ...

Business

Key Porter Books was founded in 1979 by

and Key Publishers Limited of Toronto, Ontario. Porter sold her stake in 2004 and a controlling interest was acquired that July by the Canadian publishing company H.B. Fenn; Harold Fenn, chairman. The head office was located on the 10th floor of the historic Lumsden Building at 6 Adelaide Street East in downtown Toronto until September/October 2010, when Key Porter laid off 11 of 17 employees and relocated to a commercial business park in

Bolton, Ontario Bolton (2021 population 26,795) is an unincorporated village that is the most populous community in the town of Caledon, Ontario. It is located beside the Humber River in the Region of Peel, approximately 50 kilometres northwest of Toronto. In r ...

(in the northwest of Greater Toronto). There it shared offices with H.B. Fenn Company Limited and Fenn Publishing Limited. On 7 January 2011, Key Porter publisher Jordan Fenn announced the suspension of operations and laid off the remaining staff. At the time it was reported that all book releases would continue as scheduled via H.B. Fenn.

References

External links

Key Porter Books
(1998 to 2012) – archived 2012-02-14; latest copy 2012-07-17 lacks some features Defunct publishing companies of Canada 1979 establishments in Ontario Companies based in Caledon, Ontario Publishing companies established in 1979 Publishing companies disestablished in 2011 2011 disestablishments in Ontario Canadian companies established in 1979 Book publishing companies of Canada {{publish-corp-stub