Ray Guy (humorist)

Ray Guy (22 April 1939 – 14 May 2013) was a Newfoundland journalist and humourist, best known for his satirical newspaper and magazine columns.[1]

Ray Guy
Born(1939-04-22)22 April 1939
Come by Chance
Died14 May 2013(2013-05-14) (aged 74)
OccupationJournalist/humorist
LanguageEnglish
NationalityCanadian
Alma materRyerson Polytechnic Institute
SubjectNewfoundland, Joseph Smallwood
Notable worksThat Far Greater Bay
Notable awardsStephen Leacock Award

He was born in Come By Chance, Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, to George Hynes and Alice Louise Guy, but was raised and schooled in Arnold's Cove,[2] the community that was to provide fodder for many of his columns.

Guy studied journalism at Ryerson Polytechnic Institute. After graduation, he wrote for the St. John's Evening Telegram 1963-1974, and his columns also appeared in magazines such as Atlantic Insight and the Newfoundland Quarterly. His output included political satire and humorous essays on Newfoundland outport life. His columns in the Evening Telegram often criticised the policies and ridiculed the excesses of Premier Joseph Smallwood, during a time where political opposition to Smallwood was ineffectual. In 1977, he received the Stephen Leacock Award for his collection That Far Greater Bay (1976).

In 1979, Gordon Pinsent created Up at Ours, a half-hour CBC St. John's television series that starred Mary Walsh as the owner of a boarding house and Ray Guy as the principal boarder. In 1985, Walsh appeared in and directed a stage play written by Guy, Young Triffie's Been Made Away With, which Walsh directed as a film in 2006, promoted in some markets under the shorter title Young Triffie.

Guy also appeared as a commentator on the CBC St. John's news program Here & Now. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by Memorial University of Newfoundland in 2001.

Ray Guy died of cancer on 14 May 2013. He was 74 years old.[1]

Select bibliography
  • You May Know Them As Sea Urchins, Ma'am (1975)
  • That Far Greater Bay (1976)
  • Outhouses of the East (photography by Sherman Hines) (1978)
  • Beneficial Vapors [sic?] (1981)
  • An Heroine for Our Time (1983)
  • This Dear and Fine Country (1985)
  • Ray Guy's Best (1987)
  • Ray Guy: The Smallwood Years (2008)

References
  1. Gushue, John (14 May 2013). "Newfoundland satirist Ray Guy dies at 74". CBC News. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  2. "President's Report 2000-2001: Ray David George Guy". Memorial University of Newfoundland.
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