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George Charles Stewart Bain, OC, journalist, author, educator (born 29 January 1920 in Toronto, ON; died 14 May 2006 in Halifax, NS). George Bain won the 1966 Stephen Leacock Medal and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2000.
Career Highlights
George Bain was educated in Toronto and served as a pilot in Bomber Command during the Second World War. In the mid-1950s, he began the Ottawa column in the Toronto Globe and Mail. Bain's serious but witty concern with federal politics led to the acceptance by many editors of a daily Ottawa column as something crucial to the political consciousness of Canadians.
He was London correspondent (1957–60) and Washington correspondent (1960–69), when he returned to Ottawa. In 1964, he gradually introduced into the Ottawa column his Letters from Lilac (a fictional Saskatchewan town). Lester B. Pearson's chuckle, John Diefenbaker's wagging forefinger, Pierre Elliott Trudeau's shrug and Canada's political issues were widely disseminated through the fictional Lilac Advance and its correspondent Clem Watkins.
Bain moved to the Toronto Star (1973–81) and was subsequently appointed director of journalism at the University of King's College in Halifax. He retired in 1985, returning to the Globe and Mail until May 1987. He then continued to write as a freelancer. He has authored several books.
Honours
George Bain was awarded the 1966 Stephen Leacock Medal for best Canadian book of literary humour. In 2000 he was made Officer of the Order of Canada.
