Douglas Gibson | |
---|---|
Born |
Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, Scotland |
December 4, 1943
Nationality | Canadian |
Alma mater |
University of St Andrews Yale University |
Occupation | editor, publisher, memoirist |
Known for | Douglas Gibson Books, Stories About Storytellers |
Douglas Maitland Gibson (born December 4, 1943) is a Canadian editor, publisher and writer. Best known as the former president and publisher of McClelland and Stewart, he was particularly noted for his professional relationships with many of Canada's most prominent and famous writers.
Born in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, Scotland and raised in the nearby village of Dunlop, Gibson attended the University of St. Andrews and Yale University before moving to Canada in 1967. He worked briefly for McMaster University before being hired as a junior editor at Doubleday Canada, where his first job was editing a biography of Stephen Leacock.
In 1974 he became editorial director of Macmillan of Canada, ascending to publisher of the company in 1979. During his time at Macmillan, Gibson sent first-time authors an instructional guide, "What Happens After My Book Is Published?", which was published by Saturday Night in 1979 and was nominated for a National Magazine Award for humor. With MacMillan, he was noted for successfully negotiating Mavis Gallant's first Canadian publishing deal; Gallant, a Canadian writer who had spent much of her life and career living in Paris, France as an expatriate, was not considered to be well known in the Canadian market and did not even have a Canadian publisher at all until Gibson approached her. He also spearheaded the creation and publication of Home Truths, a compilation of Gallant's Canadian-themed stories which was her only title ever to win the Governor General's Award for English-language fiction.Robertson Davies, Bruce Hutchison, Jack Hodgins, Alice Munro and Morley Callaghan were also among the writers who established relationships with Gibson in this era.