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Finding Aid

Lautens, Gary, 1928-

Gary Lautens fonds. - 1930-1999; 1950-1992 predominant. - 8.7 m of textual records and other materials.

Gary Lautens was born in Fort William, Ont., the son of Joe and Bertha Lautens. Shortly thereafter the family moved to Hamilton, Ont. where his father had accepted a position at the Hamilton Spectator. Gary Lautens graduated from Hamilton Central Collegiate Institute and then went on to McMaster University, obtaining a bachelor's degree in history in 1950, while writing for the campus newspaper, the Silhouette. After graduation Lautens joined the Hamilton Spectator and within a few years began to write a sports column, "The Gab Bag". In 1962 he joined the Toronto Star, quickly becoming a columnist. Then, branching out from sports, he began to write a humorous, general-interest column, often relating the problems and delights of his family. He had married Jackie Lane in 1957 and the couple had three children. He published several collections of his columns in book form during his lifetime, twice winning the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour. In 1982 he was appointed Executive Managing Editor of the Toronto Star, a position he held until 1984 when he became editor emeritus. He was a supporter of the Liberal Party of Canada and also an active supporter of McMaster University. He died in 1992. Two collections of his columns have been published posthumously. Jackie Lautens has written about her husband's life in the introduction to Peace, Mrs. Packard and the Meaning of Life (1993).

The fonds has been arranged into the following series: correspondence; newspaper columns, articles and tear-sheets; books, speeches, broadcast scripts and other writings, reprints; appointment calendars and notebooks, awards, personal and financial documents, programs and invitations, reports, photographs; press mentions of and interviews with Lautens, realia and artwork; sound recordings and moving images; McMaster University; condolences and memorials. All moving images have been converted to video discs (DVDs).

Books by Lautens received as part of this fonds have been catalogued for Archives and Research Collections.

Title based on content of fonds.
Fonds (14-2001) was acquired in December 2000 from Jackie Lautens. A much smaller second accrual arrived in May 2001 and has been combined with the original accrual.
Finding aid available in hard copy and electronically.
There are no access restrictions.
Further accruals are not expected.

Contact: archives@mcmaster.ca
Last Reviewed: May 27, 2003
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