William Arthur Deacon

William Arthur Deacon
Born(1890-04-06)6 April 1890
Pembroke, Ontario, Canada
Died5 August 1977(1977-08-05) (aged 87)
Toronto, Canada
Alma materUniversity of Manitoba
Occupations
  • Barrister
  • literary critic
  • editor
Known forNational President, Canadian Authors Association
Spouses
  • Gladys Coon
    ​
    (m. 1911)​
  • Sally Townsend Syme

William Arthur Deacon (6 April 1890 — 5 August 1977) was a Canadian barrister-at-law, literary critic and editor, widely known throughout Canada and the United States,[1] He was Canada's first book critic to serve in that capacity on a full-time basis.[2] Deacon was a founding member of the Canadian Authors Association, serving as its national president in 1946-48.[3][4]

Early life and education

Deacon was born in Pembroke, Ontario on 6 April 1890.[5] His parents were William Henry Deacon and Sarah Annie (Davies).[6][7]

In 1917, moving to Winnipeg, Manitoba,[8] he studied law at the University of Manitoba.[9]

Career

Deacon worked as a barrister-at-law during the first ten years of his career,[10] after which he "aimed to become the first full-time book reviewer in Canada".[8]

Deacon began writing about books, around 1920, with the publication of articles in The New York Times Book Review and the Literary Review of the New York Evening Post. After a year on the contributing staff of the Manitoba Free Press, he was appointed Editor of The Saturday Evening Citizen, for whom he wrote weekly articles and book reviews.[1] He worked for the Winnipeg Free Press (1921), Saturday Night (1922–28), The Mail and Empire (1928–36) and The Globe and Mail (1936–1961).[11] His column at The Globe and Mail was entitled, "The Fly Leaf".[12]

Deacon also found time for occasional contributions to the London Bookman, The American Mercury, the International Book Review, Yearbook of the Arts in Canada (1928-29; 1933-34), Canadian Portraits (1940); Some Canadian Essays (1932); Book of Canadian Humor (1951).[13]

During his six years with The Saturday Evening Citizen, he published four books: Pens and Pirates, Peter McArthur, Poteen, and The Four Jameses.[14] Later, he published two additional ones, Open House (1931), My Vision of Canada (1933), and a pamphlet, "Here Comes the Censor" (1940).[13]

In 1960,[13] Deacon retired from the Globe and Mail when he was seventy.[15]

According to Stouck & Stouch (2010), in his day, Deacon was considered to be the "most influential literary critic in the country".[16] The Waterloo Region Record described him as "for 40 years an intellectual patron and prophet in Canadian writing".[11] The Brantford Expositor, speaking editorially, wrote: "Mr. Deacon has no peer in Canada as a critical book reviewer of understanding." Deacon's articles on the latest books appeared each Saturday in The Whig-Standard.[14]

Personal life

In 1911, he firstly married Gladys Coon of Weston, Ontario.[10] They divorced. About 1923, he secondly married the writer and theosophist, Mrs. Sally Townsend Syme.[17][18][10][7]

In 1918, Deacon served as President of the Theosophical Society's Winnipeg Lodge.[18]

Death and legacy

William Arthur Deacon died on 5 August 1977 in Toronto.[19]

His biographer, Jessie L. Beattie, published William Arthur Deacon, Memoirs of a Literary Friendship in 1978 (The Fleming Press, Hamilton, Ontario).[2] Clara Thomas and John Lennox published William Arthur Deacon: A Canadian Literary Life in 1982. (University of Toronto Press).[11] Dear Bill, The Correspondence of William Arthur Deacon was edited by John Lennox and Michele Lacombe (University of Toronto Press, 1988).[15]

Selected works

  • Pens and Pirates (1923)
  • Peter McArthur (1923)
  • Poteen and Other Essays (1926)
  • The Four Jameses (1927)
  • My vision of Canada (1933)
  • Open House (1931)

Pamphlets

  • "Sh-hh. Here Comes the Censor!" (1940)

References

  1. ^ a b "Uncle Ray's Saturday Mail Bag". The Ottawa Citizen (Public domain ed.). 20 April 1929. p. 26. Retrieved 23 December 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b Bishop, Dorothy (12 August 1978). "Early outrider for Canadian literature". The Ottawa Journal. p. 38. Retrieved 23 December 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "William Arthur Deacon". The Globe and Mail. 15 August 1977. p. 6. Retrieved 23 December 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Authors' Association To Hear W. A. Deacon". The Winnipeg Tribune. 11 January 1947. p. 17. Retrieved 23 December 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Colombo, John Robert (1 January 1984). Canadian Literary Landmarks. Dundurn. ISBN 978-0-88882-073-0. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  6. ^ "William Arthur Deacon: A Canadian Literary Life 9781487575014". dokumen.pub. 1982. Retrieved 24 December 2025.
  7. ^ a b Canadian Gazette and Export Trader (Public domain ed.). 1913. p. 551. Retrieved 24 December 2025.
  8. ^ a b Rubio, Mary Henley (18 February 2011). Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings. Doubleday Canada. pp. 353–. ISBN 978-0-385-67481-2.
  9. ^ Thomas, Clara; Lennox, John (1982). William Arthur Deacon: A Canadian Literary Life. University of Toronto Press. p. 12. ISBN 978-0-8020-5593-4. Retrieved 24 December 2025.
  10. ^ a b c Walker, Sara (6 April 2023). "William Arthur Deacon". Kawartha Lakes Writers. Retrieved 24 December 2025.
  11. ^ a b c Kesten, Myles (11 September 1982). "A Canadian literary life". Waterloo Region Record. p. 10. Retrieved 23 December 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ French, William (9 August 1977). "Deacon built a structure for Canadian literature". The Globe and Mail. p. 13. Retrieved 23 December 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ a b c "Book Editor William Arthur Deacon Retiring". The Globe and Mail. 17 December 1960. p. 17. Retrieved 23 December 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ a b "Introducing William Arthur Deacon". The Kingston Whig-Standard (Public domain ed.). 1 September 1928. p. 18. Retrieved 23 December 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ a b French, William (12 November 1988). "The man of letters". The Globe and Mail. p. 67. Retrieved 23 December 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ Stouck, Jordan; Stouck, David (15 July 2010). "Collecting Stamps Would Have Been More Fun": Canadian Publishing and the Correspondence of Sinclair Ross, 1933-1986. University of Alberta. ISBN 978-0-88864-755-9. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  17. ^ "The World of Canadian Letters Honors William Arthur Deacon". The Globe and Mail. 12 January 1961. p. 5. Retrieved 23 December 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ a b Peterman, Michael A. (1982). "The Deacon of Canadian Letters". Journal of Canadian Studies/Revue d'études canadiennes. 17 (3): 146–148. ISSN 1911-0251. Retrieved 24 December 2025.
  19. ^ "William Arthur Deacon". thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
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