Arthur Irwin: A Biography

Graeme S. Mount is a history professor at Laurentian University and
author of Canada’s Enemies: Spies and Spying in the Peaceable Kingdom.

Essential reading for scholars of 20th-century Canada, this biography of
Arthur Irwin recounts his childhood as the son of a Methodist minister;
his military experiences during World War I, which strengthened his
sense of Canadian identity and taught him to distrust authority; and his
early career as a reporter with The Mail and Empire and then The Globe.
MacKenzie has devoted most of the book to Irwin’s career at
Maclean’s, where he was variously an associate editor, managing
editor, and editor-in-chief from 1925 to 1950. Also discussed are
Irwin’s roles as a commissioner of the National Film Board, as High
Commissioner to Australia, and as Ambassador to Brazil and then Mexico,
and his retirement in Victoria. MacKenzie not only used Irwin’s
personal archives but also visited the National Archives of Canada and
other depositories, and interviewed 34 of his friends, former
subordinates, and colleagues.

However, MacKenzie has written more than a biography. His book provides
insights into working conditions during the 1920s. Sent as The Globe’s
reporter to Ottawa’s press gallery, Irwin received $10 to cover his
weekly expenses. A room at the YMCA (the only place where he could
afford to live) rented for $20 per month, and another $5 monthly went
for typewriter rental. When Colonel J.B. Maclean first interviewed
Irwin, he ordered lunch for himself and ate it while Irwin watched.
Colonel Maclean’s patronizing treatment of other employees is also
touched on.

The book provides a history of the Canadian magazine industry in
general and of Maclean’s in particular. It tells about the prominent
politicians (Arthur Meighen, Mackenzie King, Brooke Claxton, and George
Drew, among others) and the famous writers (including George Ferguson,
Frank Underhill, Pierre Berton, June Callwood, Morley Callaghan, Blair
Fraser, and Bruce Hutchison) who interacted with Irwin. One learns about
Irwin’s views on social and political issues across the decades, and
about his views on good writing: “Avoid big words, excessive
quotations ... Use superlatives sparingly. Trim your adjectives.
Economize your reader’s effort.” Good advice for any generation.