What’s So Funny? Book Collection

 The What’s So Funny? Book Collection is a set of over (100) books including all seventy-eight (78) honoured by the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour as well as  associated artefacts and other works by and about the winning authors. 

It was assembled by Port Dover, Ontario author Dick Bourgeois-Doyle in the process of research for his book on the history of the award: What’s So Funny? Lessons from Canada’s Leacock Medal for Humour (Burnstown Publishing). The Leacock Medal was established as an annual literary honour in 1946 and has been awarded every year since save 1959.

The collection holds many autographed, first edition copies and unique exemplars of the winning books as described in the following pages. Its books and artefacts include items signed by Stephen Leacock, Robertson Davies, W.P. Kinsella, Pierre Berton, Earle Birney, Paul Hiebert, Eric Nicol, Terry Fallis, Mordecai Richler, Harry Symons, Will Ferguson, Morley Torgov, Susan Juby Donald Jack, Sondra Gotlieb, Patrick deWitt, Heidi L.M. Jacobs, Jennifer Craig, Rick Mercer, Arthur Black, , Natalie Sue, and more.

 Ojibway Melody, Harry Symons, 1947

Self-Published version, signed

Ojibway Melody: Stories of Georgian Bay by Harry Symons was the inaugural winner of the Leacock Medal in 1947.

On the surface, the book may seem like a light-hearted and simple celebration of summers in Ontario cottage country.

But many scholars including the author’s son Tom Symons, the first president of Trent University, see deeper meaning, special tolerance, and caring in the book’s passages.

The book helped inspire the first academic programs in Canadian and Indigenous Studies.

·         This copy of the book is a first edition, first printing, 1946 version. It is accompanied by a photo of Tom Symons with this copy of the book. He attested to the signature as penned by his father Harry two years before Harry’s death in 1962. Also includes copy of the 2019 re-issue of Ojibway Melody with introduction by Bourgeois-Doyle.

 

Sarah Binks, Paul Hiebert, 1948 – Willows Revisited

Both signed – Willows with Signed, Hand-written Poem 

Many consider Sarah Binks, the 1948 Leacock Medal winner, by University of Manitoba Professor Paul Hiebert to be iconic Canadian humour. The book is a gushing, over-the-top pretend biography wrapped around a collection of bad poetry.

 

The imaginary Sarah is celebrated as the greatest poetess in the history of Saskatchewan and expert on farm animals.

 

·         This first edition/first printing copy of Sarah Binks was signed by Hiebert and addressed to his friends Don and Helen Penner, a couple famous for contributions to medicine.

·         This book is accompanied by a signed first edition/first printing copy of Willows Revisited, Hiebert’s sequel to Sarah Binks. Possibly Hiebert’s own copy, it has a poem hand-written by the author in the back. The poem had not been published at the time and includes corrections.

Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town by Stephen Leacock

First-Edition copies (1912) –  Frenzied Fiction (1917) signed by Leacock

Stephen Leacock (1869-1944) was regarded as the most popular humorist in the English-speaking world at the height of his fame. He was exceptionally prolific as a humour writer as well as being a respected professor in political economy.

His best-known work remains Sunshine Sketches of A Little Town, the book of stories associated with his summers in Orillia, the town where the Leacock Medal award was initiated.

·         These are two first edition, early printings of Sunshine Sketches which first appeared in 1912 under John Lane, The Bodley Head publishers in the UK.

·         One is a first edition, third (3) impression of the original content and typesetting, printed in the UK, citing only Literary Lapses (1910) and Nonsense Novels (1911) as the author’s only other previous works. The other copy of Sunshine Sketches is from the eighth (8^th) impression of the first edition.

·         The accompanying book that carries Leacock’s signature is a first edition, first printing copy of Frenzied Fiction, published in 1917. The signature is followed by the date July 20, 1931, written in Leacock’s own hand.

Other Books by Stephen Leacock

• Unsigned first editions/first printings: Moonbeams from the Larger Lunacy (1915); Behind the Beyond (1913) unique for its illustrations, the first professional work by artist Annie Fish; a first edition/ first printing of posthumously published autobiography The Boy I left Behind Me.
  
  
• Many later edition paperback versions of Laugh with Leacock, My Financial Career and Other Follies, Literary Lapses, Nonsense Novels, My Discovery of England, and Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town.
  
  
• Also hard-cover with protective case and publisher’s gift note with limited edition  CANADA: The Foundations of Its Future by Leacock.
  
  
• Hard-cover, dust jacket, pristine 1999 Key Porter Stephen Leacock Treasury.

 

 

 

Just Add Water and Stir, Pierre Berton, 1960
Review copy inscribed and addressed to Eric Nicol

Vancouver columnist and three-time Leacock Medal winner Eric Nicol was a shy student at UBC in the 1940s. He was enticed into writing for the student newspaper under a pseudonym by the editor, the future icon of Canadian arts and journalism Pierre Berton. Berton gave Nicol the pen name “Jabez,” a biblical word meaning “he who causes sorrow.”

Years later Berton himself won a Leacock Medal for his essay collection Just Add Water and Stir. Before this book was issued, he had his publisher send one of the pre-launch review copies to Nicol with the publisher’s note and the inscription “For Jabez from an old admirer” above Berton’s signature.

·         This is that unique book signed by Berton and once owned by Eric Nicol.

·         Also a signed copy of Berton’s memoir wherein he describes his university days and relationship with Nicol as a student.

 

 Leaven of Malice, Robertson Davies, 1955
First Edition/First Printing signed

 

When Robertson Davies died in 1995, he was celebrated as one of Canada's best-known  authors and distinguished “men of letters.”  He was a prolific novelist, playwright, critic, essayist, and professor. But when he wrote the 1955 Leacock Medal winner Leaven of Malice, his day job was that of Editor of the Peterborough, Ontario Examiner, one of his family’s newspaper holdings.

The book, the second in his trilogy of stories based in the imaginary town of Salterton, follows an adventure focused on the local newspaper editor.

·         This is a first-edition/first-printing copy of the book with original dustjacket. It carries Davies’ distinctive signature and inscription.

·         The collection also includes the 540-page essay collection The Papers of Samuel Marchbanks drawing on the pseudonymous humour columns written by Davies for The Examiner during the same era.

Generica (Happiness), Will Ferguson, 2002
Signed First edition under original title

When, in 2002, Will Ferguson won his first of three Leacock Medals (the others were for Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw in 2005 and Beyond Belfast in 2010), he received the award for a book that, in a sense, no longer existed. By the time the medal was awarded for the novel Generica, it had been rebranded by its publisher as the more accessible Happiness. With this revised title, the book went on to best seller lists and bookstore shelves around the world.

 

·         This book, accompanied by a copy of one of the Happiness versions, is one of the now rare ones printed under the original Generica title and signed by the author.

·         This earlier book (1997), Why I hate Canadians, helped establish Ferguson’s stature as a humorist.

·         Also, a first edition with jacket cover of Beauty Tips and signed and inscribed copy of Beyond Belfast.

 

 The Best Laid Plans, Terry Fallis, 2008

Original Self-Published Version-signed

 

The Best Laid Plans, a political satire, and its author Terry Fallis are well known today. The book not only won the 2008 Leacock Medal but also the 2011 Canada Reads competition. It was later developed as a TV series and a stage musical.

But Fallis, who has subsequently produced many bestselling books, was largely unknown before this success and had to publish the book at his own expense. A deal with McClelland & Stewart followed his Leacock Medal win and The Best Laid Plans has since been reformatted and distributed widely.

 

·         This copy, autographed by Fallis in 2009, is one of those original self-published, print-on-demand versions.

·         Unsigned copy of his 2015 Leacock Medal winner No Relation.

 

 

 

Turvey, Earle Birney, 1950

Signed, First Edition/First Printing plus
Revised 1976 Unexpurgated Edition

 

When celebrated educator and poet Earle Birney tried to get his WWII picaresque novel Turvey published in the 1940s, he struggled. British and U.S. publishers didn’t appreciate the Canadian themes and references. Canadian publishers balked at the swearing and “army talk.”

Birney finally acquiesced, and the book was published with the swear words edited out. It went on to win the Leacock Medal in 1950, and it inspired radio plays and stage productions.

 

·         This is a signed copy of a first edition/first printing of the 1949 expunged version of Turvey along with a colorful, 1976 revision with Birney’s original wording put back in.

 

 

The Boat Who Wouldn’t Float, Farley Mowat, 1970

Signed Postcard – Farley Mowat’s Pipe

 

Environmentalist and author Farley Mowat wrote close to 50 books, sold millions, and saw his works published in many languages. Yet The Boat Who Wouldn’t Float, Mowat’s humorous account of his 1960s adventures sailing a leaky boat along the east coast of Canada had a special place in his heart. It not only won the Leacock Medal in 1970, but also described his meeting with Claire, the woman who would become his wife. This 1971 hard copy of the 4^th edition of book accompanies a postcard from Farley and Claire sent just prior to the author’s death at the age of 92 in 2014. The postcard, on 75-year-old Never Cry Wolf card stock, was typed on Farley’s manual typewriter, which Claire later gave to Bourgeois-Doyle along with two of Farley’s pipes. The typewriter and one of the pipes was later donated to the Leacock Museum in Orillia.

 

·         The signed (by both Farley and Claire) postcard with its message commenting on What’s So Funny? and its reference to The Boat Who Wouldn’t Float is accompanied by the other of Farley’s Pipes and a hardcover of the 4^th edition of the book.

 

·         A first edition copy of Never Cry Wolf with its original dustjacket is included.

 

 

 The Outside Chance of Maximillian Glick and
 A Good Place to Come From  

Morley Torgov, 1975 and 1983

First Edition hardcovers and signed paperbacks

The 1975 Leacock Medal winner had a significant impact on Canadian culture as a portal on Jewish life in small-town Ontario. The author, Toronto lawyer Morley Torgov, drew upon his personal experiences growing up in Sault Ste. Marie in this book, A Good Place To Come From, a collection of short stories.

The book was made into a three-episode TV series that aired on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in March 1980.

Torgov’s novel The Outside Chance of Maximilian Glick won the medal in 1983 and was adapted into a film of the same name.

·         The collection includes first edition hard cover copies of both books as well as paperback versions autographed by the author.

Eric Nicol Leacock Medal Winners
The Roving I (1951), Shall We Join the Ladies (1956),
Girdle Me a Globe (1958)

 

Best known as a longtime humour columnist for the Vancouver, British Columbia newspaper The Province, Eric Nicol also published over 40 books, wrote many plays and radio scripts, and won the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour three times in the 1950s.

·         Copies of first edition/first printing of all three Leacock Medal winning books: one with original dust jacket (Shall We Join the Ladies) and one signed (Girdle Me a Globe).

·         Also, first edition/first printing copy of his book Letters to My Son (1974) with an inscription to a colleague who helped on the book with Nicol’s initials.

 

Leacock Museum Director Ralph L. Curry Books

 

Ralph L. Curry was an American literary scholar who served as curator and director at the Stephen Leacock Museum in Orillia from 1959-77 and authored the 1959 biography Stephen Leacock: Humorist and Humanist drawing upon the humorist’s personal papers. The museum now holds the Dr. Ralph Curry Archival Area. Curry also assembled and edited an anthology of excerpts from Leacock Medal winning books in 1976.

·         This is a first edition/first printing of the 1959 biography with original jacket cover along with the 1976 anthology The Leacock Medal Treasury.

 

First Edition Books by Harry J. Boyle with Jacket Covers

Harry Joseph Boyle was a Canadian broadcaster and writer, who served as a senior executive in the CBC and as Chair of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.

Boyle's writing was a blend of autobiography and fiction dealing with life in rural southern Ontario during the interwar period. Two of his books were awarded the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour. The first Homebrew and Patches in 1964 presented that mix of autobiography and fiction. The second, Luck of the Irish, was a novel that won the award in 1976.

·         These are first edition copies of both books with original jacket covers. The cover of Luck of the Irish features an original work prepared for the book by now well-known illustrator Joe Salina.

 

Books by Robert Thomas Allen

The Grass Is Never Greener (1957)
and Wives, Children and Other Wild Life (1971)

Robert Thomas Allen (1911–1990) who won the Leacock Medal in 1957 and 1971 was a nationally celebrated contributor to Maclean's, Saturday Night, The Canadian, Weekend and Star Weekly. He published 14 books throughout his career, including both compilations of his essays and works for children.

A recurring character in the work of Toronto Star editorial cartoonist Duncan Macpherson, the bespectacled "average Canadian", was originally drawn as a caricature of Allen.

·         Copies of both Leacock Medal books including a rare first edition with jacket-cover version of The Grass is Never Greener.

·         Also, a copy of Allen’s illustrated Treasury of Canadian Humour which includes a reproduction of Duncan Macpherson’s caricature of the author.

 

Richard J. Needham Books – Unsigned

Richard J. Needham (1912-1996) was a Canadian humour columnist for The Globe and Mail. Many of his columns were collected in books including Needham's Inferno, which won the Leacock Medal in 1967,

Needham was known for his aphorisms and for coining phrases like Mop and Pail and Grope and Flail, unflattering nicknames for his employer still in use today. Some of these quotable bits are compiled in the 1969 work A Friend in Needham or a Writer’s Notebook.

·         A hard-copy 1969 edition of A Friend in Needham and with a 1973 paperback edition of Needham’s Inferno.

 

Ernest Buckler Books – Unsigned

Ernest Buckler (1908 – 1984) was a novelist and short-story writer best known for his 1952 work, The Mountain and the Valley, a work praised by Margaret Laurence, Alice Munro, and other leading literary figures.

In 1978, he was awarded the Leacock Medal for the eclectic collection Whirligig.

 

 

·         These include first edition/first printing copies of both Whirligig, a collection of essays, poems, and commentary, and of Ox Bells and Fireflies, Buckler’s memoir.

·         The copy of The Mountain and the Valley is a later edition paperback.

 

B.C. Authors Jennifer Craig - Gone to Pot

Jennifer Lynn Craig (1934 – 2023) was a  writer and academic, celebrated for her novel Gone to Pot. The book, about a BC grandmother who resorts to growing marijuana in her basement during a time of financial desperation, won the Leacock Medal in 2018. On the eve of the award banquet, she fell ill with a stroke and missed the medal presentation.

·         This copy of the book was signed at Jennifer’s home
in B.C. shortly before her passing in 2023.

Susan Juby – Leacock Medal and Short-listed books

British Columbia educator and author Susan Juby established her writing career with a series of books for young adults. The books she wrote for older audiences include Republic of Dirt, which won the Leacock Medal in 2016 and the mystery novel Mindful of Murder which was short-listed for the award in 2023.

·         Copies of both books are in the collection with Mindful of Murder signed by the author at the Leacock Medal event in 2023.

 Arthur Black – Three Leacock Medal winners and signed Postcard

Arthur Black (1943 – 2018) was a Canadian humourist and radio personality best known as the longtime host, from 1983 to 2002, of Basic Black on CBC Radio One.

He also wrote a series of 19 humorous books drawing on the radio rants – three of them winning the Leacock Medal: Black in the Saddle Again (1997), Black Tie and Tales (2000), and Pitch Black (2006).

·         First-edition, first-printing of all three books with jacket covers are included with a postcard signed by Black on Salt Spring Island, B.C. just before his passing from pancreatic cancer in 2018:
“It’s truly heartening to discover how many people are pulling for me.”

Mark Leiren-Young – 2009

Another multi-medium writer in B.C., Mark Leiren-Young won the Leacock Medal for his book Never Shoot a Stampede Queen about his days a local newspaper reporter in the Williams Lake.

·         This copy of the book is unsigned.

 

 

Mordecai Richler – Barney’s Version signed

 

Barney’s Version, the last novel by celebrated writer Mordecai Richler, won the Leacock Medal in 1998.

Richler missed the award event as his cancer had progressed and he needed surgery. He would die three years later.

 

·         This signed copy of Barney’s Version is the first British edition. A copy of the Canadian version is included. Both have original dust jackets.

 

Signed 2024-2025 Leacock Medal Shortlist Books

Copies of recent shortlisted Leacock Medal books, Coq by Ali Bryan, Girlfriend on Mars by Deborah Willis – both 2024, and 2025 shortlist books An Evening with Birdy O’Day by Greg Kearney, We Came from Away by Patricia J. Parsons.

All signed save Coq.

·         and the 2025 Leacock Medal winner I Hope Finds You Well by Natalie Sue. Signed.

 

 Rare Copies of Early Winners

·         First-edition hard-cover copies of Truthfully Yours (with original dust jacket) by Angeline Hango (1949), The Salt-Box by Jan Hilliard (Hilda Kay Grant) (1952), and The Battle of Baltinglass by Larry Earl (1953).

 

·         Also, paperback of Pardon My Parka by Joan Walker (1954).

 

 

2000s – 2010S Leacock Medal Books – Signed

 

Signed copies of Leacock Medal winners:

·         Village of the Small Houses by Ian Ferguson (2004),

·         With Axe and Flask by Dan Needles 2003),

·         Practical Jean by Trevor Cole (2011),

·         Dance Gladys Dance by Cassie Stocks (2013),

·         and The Promised Land by Bill Conall (2014).

Inscriptions including by Dan Needles
“To my first student …”

Leacock Medal Winners – Unsigned

Recent winners of the Leacock Medal awaiting signatures:

·         2017 Yiddish for Pirates by Gary Barwin,

·         2019 Boy Wonders by Cathal Kelly,

·         2020 Molly of the Mall by Heidi L.M. Jacobs,

·         2021 Indians on Vacation by Thomas King.

Older unsigned winners:

·         1972 The Night We Stole the Mountie’s Car by Max Braithwaite (and a copy of his better-known Why Shoot the Teacher).

·         1973 Saturday Night at the Bagel Factory

by Don Bell

·         1988 King Leary by Paul Quarrington (with a copy of his better-known book Whale Music).

 

 

 

Donald Jack – Three Winners – One Signed

UK-Canadian novelist and playwright Donald Jack won three Leacock Medals for books in his series The Bandy Papers, about the adventures of WWI pilot Bartholomew Bandy.

The first came in 1962 for Three Cheers for Me.

·         The collection includes a signed paperback of this book as well as a hard-copy, first edition/first printing of its 1973 expanded incarnation with original dust jacket.

·         It also includes hard-copy, first edition/first printings of the other two Leacock Medal winners That’s Me in The Middle (1974) and Me Bandy, You Cissie (1980).

 

 

 

Stuart Trueman – New Brunswick Booster

 

Stuart Trueman (1911-1995) was a journalist and humorist, who won the Stephen Leacock Award in 1969 for his book You're Only as Old as You Act. As a writer, Trueman published numerous books of both humour and regional New Brunswick history. 

In addition to his Leacock Award, he was a shortlisted nominee for the award in 1983 for Don't Let Them Smell the Lobsters Cooking.

·         Hard-copy first edition versions of both books are included in the collection with the second one (Lobsters) being signed.

 

 

More Winners signed at Leacock Medal events

Roch Carrier is among the best-known Quebec writers in English Canada. He served as Chair of the Canada Council and as National Librarian. In 1992, Carrier's Prayers of a Very Wise Child (Prières d'un enfant très sage) won the Leacock Medal.

·         This copy of the book was signed in Orillia at a Leacock Medal event that summer.

·         Other winners from the same era were signed in Orillia at Leacock Medal events after the wins:

·         Winter Tulips by Joe Kertes

·         and Waiting for Aquarius by John Levesque.

 

Stuart McLean’s The Vinyl Cafe  Books

Broadcaster Stuart McLean’s The Vinyl Cafe was aired every weekend on CBC Radio for two decades. McLean's books of stories drawn from The Vinyl Cafe won the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour three times.

·       Home from the Vinyl Café (1999)

·       Vinyl Café Unplugged (2001)

·       And Secrets from the Vinyl Café  (2007)

 

Two-time Winner Patrick deWitt

 American-Canadian novelist and screenwriter Patrick deWitt has won the Leacock Medal twice.

For the western picaresque The Sisters Brothers n 2012 and for The Librarianist in 2024.

·         Copies of both are included in the collection. The latter one a hard copy with dust jacket was signed at the Leacock Medal event in 2024.

 

1979 and 1982 Winners signed

Two books with different perspectives on life in Western Canada. Both signed by the authors.

·         Sondra Gotlieb’s True Confections (1979) about teen life and food in 1950s Winnipeg.

·         And Mervyn J. Huston’s Depression-era Alberta Gophers Don’t Pay Taxes (1982).

W.O. Mitchell – Two-time Winner

Novelist W.O. Mitchell won the Leacock Medal twice for books in his Jake and the Kid series, which focused on the relationship between a young boy and a farmhand in early 20^th century Saskatchewan.

 

·         Copies of both books (Jake and the Kid (1962) and According to Jake and the Kid (1990) as well as the first volume of the writer’s biography (written by his son and daughter-in-law).

·         and a copy of his iconic Who has Seen the Wind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Newfoundland Writers

Recently, Newfoundland and Labrador writers have loomed large in the Leacock Medal competition with two Rick Mercer (2022) and Wayne Johnston (2023) winning and Mark Critch being a finalist (2022).

All three claim inspiration from the 1977 Leacock Medalist Ray Guy.

·         Signed books by Mercer, Johnston, and Critch are included along with copies of the book that won for Ray Guy in 1977 and a collection of his works.

Satirical Children’s Book featuring art

When Globe and Mail columnist George Bain won the Leacock Medal in 1966 much of the credit for the humour and impact of the satirical children’s book might have gone to the illustrator Collette MacNeil.

·         This is a first-edition copy of this book with its original colourful dust jacket.

 

 

Unsigned winners – Some First Editions – Other Books

·         Toronto Star columnist Gary Lautens won the Leacock Medal in 1981 and 1984 for collections of his stories on family life.

·         Winers in the 1960s included CBC broadcaster Max Ferguson’s memoir And Now … Here’s Max (1968), Gregory Clark’s WWII collection War Stories (1965), and University of Saskatchewan professor Norman Ward’s short stories Mice in the Beer (1961).  Also a collection of Clark’s funniest articles.

·         Books from the 1980s and 1990s in the collections include Ted Allen’s Love is a Long Shot (1985), Joey Singer’s No Axe to Small to Grind (1986), B.C. writer Howard White’s Writing in the Rain (1991), Bill Richardson’s Bachelor Brothers Bed and Breakfast (1994), Josh Freed’s Fear of Frying (1995), and Marsha Boulton’s Letters from the Country (1996).

·         The collection also includes many other books of humour not tied directly to the Leacock Medal.

 

 

W.P. Kinsella – “Bill”

 

William Patrick Kinsella (1935 – 2016) was best known for his writing on baseball and the novel Shoeless Joe, which was adapted into the movie Field of Dreams in 1989.

But he wrote many more books about life on First Nations reserves, some of which were also the basis for film and TV adaptations.

One such book, The Fencepost Chronicles won the Leacock Medal for Humour in 1987.

·         Though known professionally as W.P., Kinsella used the name "Bill" to refer to himself and was known as "Bill" to family and friends. This copy of The Fencepost Chronicles is signed this way.