Gary Lautens
| Gary Lautens | |
|---|---|
| Born |
November 3, 1928 Fort William, ON |
| Died | February 1, 1992 (aged 63) Toronto, ON |
| Alma mater | McMaster University |
| Notable awards | National Newspaper Award, Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour |
| Years active | 1948-1992 |
Gary Lautens (November 3, 1928 – February 1, 1992) was a Canadian humorist and newspaper columnist. He wrote for the Toronto Star from 1962 until his death in 1992.
Lautens was born on November 3, 1928 in Fort William, Ontario, to Joe and Bertha Lautens. The family relocated to Hamilton where his father worked for the Hamilton Spectator servicing the newspaper wire and teletype equipment. Lautens began working for the Spectator after school and in the summers when he was just 13 years old. After graduating from Central Collegiate Institute in 1964, Lautens went on to study history at McMaster University where he was the editor of the campus newspaper The Silhouette from 1948 to 1950.
Lautens subsequently rejoined the Spectator in 1950. He became a sports columnist in 1954 and later served as the paper's assistant sports editor. Fans of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats once burned Lautens in effigy after he had written something unflattering about the team in the newspaper. He met his wife, Jackie, in 1957 when she was a contestant and he was a judge in the annual "Miss Tigercat" pageant. Together they had three children: Richard, Stephen and Jane.
In 1962, Lautens was hired by the Star to replace Pierre Berton. At the Star, Lautens became the most widely read columnist in Canada. In 1982, Lautens was named managing editor of the Star, and successfully increased the paper's circulation and profits even in the midst of an economic recession. He held the position for two years before returning to writing his humour column. On his time as managing editor, Lautens commented: ""More important than the commercial success, however, has been the stand The Star has taken on issues I personally consider important - nuclear disarmament, drunk driving, acid rain, medicare, unemployment, the rape of our natural resources."
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