John Duffie (writer)

John Wilson Duffie
Born	(1913-05-15)May 15, 1913 Saint-Lambert, Quebec, Canada
Died	February 9, 1989(1989-02-09) (aged 75) Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Occupation	Writer, humor columnist
Nationality	Canadian
Notable works	Duffie's Unimportance of Being Earnest (1982)

John Wilson Duffie (May 15, 1913 - February 9, 1989) was a Canadian writer. ^[1] A longtime humor columnist for the arts and entertainment publication Monday Magazine in Victoria, British Columbia, ^[2] he was most noted for his 1982 book Duffie's Unimportance of Being Earnest, a collection of his magazine writing which was shortlisted for the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour in 1983. ^[3]

Born in Saint-Lambert, Quebec, ^[1] Duffie spent much of his working life as a property tax manager for Marathon Realty in Toronto, Ontario, until retiring from that job around age 60. ^[2] He and his wife Edith then moved to Victoria in 1973, ^[2] where he began writing "Overset", his Monday Magazine column, just a few weeks after the publication launched in 1975. ^[4] His writing also appeared in Edmonton magazine and Wildlife Review, ^[2] whose editor once praised Duffie as the only writer in his publication who could write funny stuff about animals. ^[5]

In the late 1980s, after his wife's death, he moved to Vancouver to be closer to his daughters and grandchildren, but continued writing his column until his death in 1989. ^[4] Following his death, the Victoria Public Library set up a memorial endowment fund in his memory. ^[6]

References

1. "Duffie, John". ABC Bookworkd, 1989.
2. Rebecca Wigod, "The time of their lives: John Duffie". Victoria Times-Colonist , February 4, 1982.
3. "Torgov wins 1983 Leacock Medal". The Globe and Mail , April 29, 1983.
4. "Duffie had 'grace, style' in his writing". Victoria Times-Colonist , February 12, 1989.
5. David Berry, "About 'earnest'". Victoria Times-Colonist , February 11, 1982.
6. Gorde Hunter, "One man's opinion". Victoria Times-Colonist , May 2, 1989.