Occupation Journalist/humorist Name Ray Guy Language English Role Humorist | Nationality Canadian Education Ryerson University | |
Born 22 April 1939
Come by Chance ( 1939-04-22 ) Alma mater Ryerson Polytechnic Institute Subject Newfoundland, Joseph Smallwood Died May 14, 2013, St. John's, Canada Notable awards Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour Books Outhouses of the East, You May Know Them as Sea Urchins, Ma'am: Writings, This Dear and Fine Country | ||
Notable works That Far Greater Bay | ||
Ray Guy (22 April 1939 – 14 May 2013) was a Newfoundland journalist and humourist, best known for his satirical newspaper and magazine columns.
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, 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 that 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.