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Authority record

Choy, Wayson (1939-2019)

  • WC
  • Person
  • 1939-2019

Wayson Choy, a Chinese Canadian author and teacher was born Choy Way Sun in Vancouver, British Columbia on 20 April, 1939 and raised in the city’s Chinatown neighbourhood. He was educated at the University of British Columbia, where he studied creative writing. He relocated to Toronto in 1962 and began teaching, first at Burnhamthorpe Collegiate (1966-67), before working as one of the original members of the Humber College teaching faculty in 1967, where he remained until 2004. After his retirement, Choy continued as an instructor at the Humber School for Writers.

Choy’s first novel, The Jade Peony was published in 1995. It won the Trillium Book Award and the Vancouver City Book Award. In 1999, this was followed by his first memoir, Paper Shadows: A Chinatown Childhood, which received numerous accolades, including being shortlisted for a Governor General award. His 2004 novel, All that Matters received a Trillium Book Award and was nominated for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. In 2005, Choy was named a member of the Order of Canada.

In 2009, Choy’s final memoir, Not Dead Yet: A Memoir of Living and Almost Dying was published. In 2010, The Jade Peony was included in the CBC’s Canada Reads competition. In 2015, he was presented with the George Woodcock Award, a lifetime achievement award for writers from British Columbia. He passed away in Toronto on 28 April, 2019 at 80 years old.

A lifelong advocate for his community, Choy is remembered as a trailblazing figure in Chinese Canadian literature, and LGBTQ literature, as one of the first openly gay writers of colour to achieve widespread success in Canada’s mainstream.

Davies, John

  • JD
  • Person

John Davies was Humber’s third President (2007-2012). Described by his colleagues as a 'transformational leader', John Davies brought to Humber vast experience in education: “Davies trained as a geography teacher in his native Britain and came to Toronto with his wife (also a teacher) to attend graduate school. Here he began a long career in the public school sector, serving as a teacher, vice principal, principal, superintendent and director of the Toronto Board of Education. What began as a job that would afford him ‘flexibility and a decent salary’ became a career driven by a passion for student achievement.” (Grzetic, 2012).

July 1, 2007, was the day when John Davies became Humber College’s third President, succeeding Robert “Squee” Gordon and after being vice president of finance and administration for five years. President Davies plan at the time was to continue the growth that his predecessor had started. He also had plans to expand the applied degrees and reach out to the community. In his own words, “Humber will continue to push ahead on that polytechnic vision. We need to get more applied degrees and push ahead with development of buildings, particularly at Lakeshore and Orangeville.” (quoted in Dillon, 2007)

John Davies retired from a long and accomplished career in 2012 leaving behind a legacy of new buildings (including an expanded Learning Commons, and a new Media Studio at the Lakeshore Campus, a new Centre for Urban Ecology at the North Campus), along with increased student enrollment and greater connections and partnerships to the local community. As was noted at the time of his retirement: “Davies finishes his five-year role as president at the end of June after 10 years with the college (the first five as vice president of finance and administration) marked by significant contributions to the surrounding north Etobicoke community” (Grzetic, 2012).

The Humber School for Writers

  • HC-HSW
  • Corporate body
  • 1992-

Established in 1992 under the direction of its first creative director, Joseph Kertes, the Humber School for Writers is a unique program aimed at instructing writers on both technical/artistic and the business side of their chosen craft. The workshop ran in two parts, an in-person session run over a week during the summer (and briefly during the fall), and a correspondence course, where the students/participants gained feedback on a work in progress.

In 2002, Creative Director Joseph Kertes retired and Antanas Sileika replaced him in the role until 2017. The current Creative Director is David Bezmozgis.

Many prominent Canadian and International writers (Margaret Atwood, Carol Shields, Mavis Gallant, Alistair MacLeod, Miriam Toews, Wayson Choy and others) have been speakers/instructors for the program.

Brady, James

James " Jim" Brady worked at Humber College since the early years when the college was founded. Jim was an AV technician producing slides and audio recordings at Humber. As an avid photographer, Jim had taken many pictures at events especially during his first twenty years at Humber.

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