This new bok is a pictorial treasure, tracing the life of Canada’s first and foremost man of letters, a legendary teacher and a world-renowned humourist. More than one hundred photographs are reproduced, most drawn from the archives of the Stephen Leacock Museum, housed in the Leacock estate, The Old Brewery Bay in Orillia, Ontario, and published here for the first time. The rest are portraits by famed photographer Yousuf Karsh.

In this exclusive collection, we follow Stephen Leacock from his birth in England through his upbringing in Canada and his emergence as an internally acclaimed author and humourist. We see the author on formal occasions and in lighter moments, and we become engrossed in the world that inspired the stories the world has come to love.

James A. "Pete" McGarvey has spent close to half a century in Ontario radio. In the 1970s and 1980s he was a popular commentator on Toronto's CKEY. When in 1957 McGarvey was named Orillia's "Citizen of the Year" for his efforts to preserve The Old Brewery Bay, the Orillia Packet and Times wrote, "[He] patiently persevered in the long and difficult negotiations with a host of lawyers, owners, potential owners, advisers and hangers-on ...The lion's share of the credit must go to Pete McGarvey."

James A. "Pete" McGarvey's profile page

Daphne Mainprize is the curator emeritus of the Stephen Leacock Museum, a National Historic Site in Orillia, Ontario. She is the co-author of The Stephen Leacock Picture Book with James A. “Pete? McGarvey. Daphne lives in Orillia, Ontario.

Daphne Mainprize's profile page

"This book is great fun... A visual feast."

Canadian Book Review Annual