John Robert Colombo | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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John Robert Colombo

At their best, especially Colombo's Canadian Quotations (1974) and Colombo's Canadian References (1976) and in Songs of the Indians (2 vols, 1983), Colombo's compilations are examples of a kind of private-sector scholarship that is as admirable as it is rare.

Colombo, John Robert

 John Robert Colombo, editor, anthologist, poet (b at Kitchener, Ont 24 Mar 1936). Colombo's career can be broken into 2 phases. The first involves him exclusively as a literary figure, particularly as an exponent and practitioner of "found poetry," with a vaguely European manner and a flair for causing literary activity to happen around him. This aspect became evident when he was at university in the 1950s and continued without challenge for 20 years, when it was joined by Colombo the bibliophile and creator of reference books.

At their best, especially Colombo's Canadian Quotations (1974) and Colombo's Canadian References (1976) and in Songs of the Indians (2 vols, 1983), Colombo's compilations are examples of a kind of private-sector scholarship that is as admirable as it is rare. In all, Colombo has published numerous books, including translations. New Canadian Quotations was published in 1987 and in 1994 he released All-Time Great Canadian Quotations.