Richard Gwyn 1934 - 2020

Canadian Journalist, Author, and Historian

Plaque at the corner of Carlton and Sackville streets.

Richard John Philip Jermy Gwyn was born in Bury, St. Edmunds, United Kingdom. His father was Brigadier Philip Eustace Congreve Jermy-Gwyn, an Indian Army officer, and his mother Edith, Jermy-Gwyn was the eldest daughter of Sir John Anthony Cecil Tilley. He attended Stonyhurst College in Lancashire England, a Roman Catholic boarding school run by the Jesuits, followed by the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

At the age of twenty, Richard emigrated to Canada. For a short time, he went door to door selling magazine subscriptions. When he became a journalist in 1957 with United Press International, he worked in Halifax and later in Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa. When he was the Ottawa Editor of the Toronto Star, his columns were syndicated in twenty-five newspapers from Newfoundland to British Columbia.

Richard was always a journalist but, for a time, he was executive assistant to Canadian politician and economist Eric Kierans (1968-1973). He later served as Director General of Socio-Economic Planning in the Federal Department of Communications.

Author of seven books, in 2008, he won the Charles Taylor Prize for Literacy Non-Fiction, John A: The Man who Made Us: The Life and Times of John A. MacDonald. Richard would say, “for all you may want to criticize him, NO MACDONALD, NO CANADA.” Other best sellers were The Northern Magus, a portrayal of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, and The Shape of Scandal and Smallwood: The Unlikely Revolutionary.

His career in journalism brought him to the world of television. In 1983, he co-hosted the TV show Realities with Robert Fulford. In 1994, he was a panelist on Studio 2 and Diplomatic Immunity, and was a frequent guest on The Agenda with Steve Paiken.

Richard’s primary residence was in Cabbagetown, but he had an abiding affection for Newfoundland. His first wife, until her death in 2000, was writer Sandra Fraser Gwyn, a native of St. John’s. Through her, Newfoundland found its way into Richard’s heart. Having owned a modest seaside house in tiny Eastport since 1974, Richard took great pleasure in getting to know everyone.

Newfoundland’s literary community celebrates his founding of the Winterset Award, an annual literary prize established in Sandra’s memory as well as the co-founding of Eastport’s annual Winterset in Summer Literary Festival. Among Richard’s many books, he is recognized for his definitive biography of Joey Smallwood, Newfoundland’s first premier. In a 2001 Globe and Mail article ‘My Favourite Place,’ he says: “I love the place because once here you step instantly into an utterly different world where the important topics are the weather, the price and abundance of fish, whether the potatoes are fattening up without disease, and who’s had the most recent hernia. Watch the weather chase around the shoreline, and then go off and talk to people to whom to talk is to live.”

Richard may have been to the manor born but he was most at home in shorts and a t-shirt, living a simple summer life by the sea in his salt-box house with his beloved second wife, Carol, and their dog Chummy.

There is no doubt that Richard Gwyn’s privileged beginnings did not stand in the way of his values and his sense of humility. He was truly a great man. His words have been described as enigmatic, and he no doubt raised the bar for political journalism.

He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2002. He was the recipient of numerous awards. Commentator and broadcaster Michael Enright produced podcasts with Richard Gwyn for the CBC.

Some testimonies:

Richard Gwyn was a giant of Canadian political journalism. He was truly one of a kind. John Honderich, former publisher of the Toronto Star.

Gwyn was an expert in Canadian politics and Canada’s role on the world stage. He was a born storyteller; right to the end of his writing career he had a special knack for finding details that drew readers into a column about the big issues of the day. Andrew Phillips, Toronto Star editorial page editor.

Gwyn had a natural talent for journalism and writing deep knowledge, gained from being an insider on Parliament Hill, and a fresh perspective on politics in the country. Ian Urquhart, former star managing editor and political columnist.

Gwyn deplored stuffiness and loved Canada, in particular Newfoundland, where his first wife Sandra was born. He loved to sail, and they vacationed in the province annually. Charlotte Gray, author and lifelong friend.

A man who was – Original and unconventional thinker – Respected by all political parties and journalists – Wonderful to work with. Steve Paiken, TVO.