Page 6 - Earle Birney News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Ask any historian of Canadian literature to name the country’s first literary agent and the response you’ll likely get is Matie Molinaro. Founder of the Canadian Speakers’ and Writers’ Service, the Toronto-based Molinaro was at one time the only professional of her kind in the country. Her company was responsible for representing foundational CanLit authors – including Earle Birney, Harry Boyle, and Marshall McLuhan – from its establishment in 1950 through the 1970s, when other agents and authors’ representatives began to appear on the scene in force. But McGill University professor and former publisher Robert Lecker points out that the identification of Molinaro as Canada’s first professional literary agent is incorrect. That honour goes to Doris Hedges, who in 1946 partnered with Donald Cargill Southam, of the Southam media family, and the wealthy Frenchman Jacques Teste de Merian to form what their business registration refers to as “trade and business in co-par

France generalLouis dudekHarry boyleEarle birneyMarshall mcluhanGertrude steinDonald cargill southamLorne pierceIsadora duncanVaslav nijinskyRobert leckerMerchant bankWriter serviceBibliographical society of canadaMcgill universityCanadian speaker