William Arthur Irwin
| W. Arthur Irwin | |
|---|---|
| Born |
William Arthur Irwin May 27, 1898 Ayr, Ontario |
| Died | August 9, 1999 (aged 101) Victoria, British Columbia |
| Citizenship | Canadian |
| Occupation | journalist, diplomat |
| Spouse(s) | P. K. Page (1916-2010) |
| Children | Patricia Morley, Sheila Irving, Neal Irwin |
William Arthur Irwin, often credited as W. Arthur Irwin (May 27, 1898 – August 9, 1999), was a Canadian journalist and diplomat. He is best known for his work on Maclean's, a magazine with which he held various positions across a quarter of a century. He also served as the Commissioner of the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), and as Canadian high commissioner or ambassador to various countries.
Irwin was born in Ayr, Ontario, on 27 May 1898 to Reverend Alexander J. Irwin and Amelia (Hassard). During the First World War he served abroad, before returning to Canada after the end of the conflict to attend the University of Toronto. While still attending the university he made his first steps into journalism, working at The Mail and Empire for $30 a week. He subsequently moved on to work for The Globe, for which he worked until 1925 when he resigned following criticism from the paper's owner about a piece he had written during the 1925 federal election.
The same year, he began working for Maclean's. He was initially the magazine's associate editor, becoming the full editor in 1945, although even before this point he was regarded as being the driving force behind the publication. He is credited with having brought a new generation of Canadian artists and writers to prominence at Maclean's, including Pierre Berton, June Callwood, Trent Frayne and Clyde Gilmour. Irwin was a Canadian nationalist, who believed his job at Maclean's was "interpreting Canada to Canadians."
In addition to his journalistic career in this period, during the 1930s he worked with the Canadian Institute of International Affairs. In the 1940s he also began working for the United Nations, an organisation with which he continued to be associated through to the 1960s. In 1948 he suffered a personal loss when his wife Jean, whom he had married shortly after leaving university, died of asthma.
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