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1977 Leacock Medal Ray Guy - That Far Greater Bay



Ray Guy’s book That Far Greater Bay makes you smile when you think of Newfoundland. It also helps you appreciate Newfoundland humour, the power of satire, and the forms it can take.

Guy, who died at 74 last year, was best known as a political commentator and a sometimes solitary voice criticizing Premier Joey Smallwood. But by the time Guy and his editors were assembling That Far Greater Bay, many of his old political pieces had become dated and would have required too much humour-crushing preambling. Guy said he wanted this book to amuse.

For a review copy of my book: canushumorous@gmail.com

About the Leacock Medal and What's So Funny?


On June 16, 1944, a couple of months after Stephen Leacock’s death, Charles Harold (C.H.) Hale, the editor of the Orillia (Ontario, Canada) Packet and Times newspaper, convened a meeting at the local library to identify ways of honouring the humorist and promoting his legacy. The committee struck that day quickly decided to create an award for books of humour. The award eventually took the form of a silver medal crafted by Emanuel Hahn, the sculptor who also designed the Cariboo quarter, the Bluenose dime, and other Canadian icons.

          The committee later assumed the name “Leacock Associates” to denote individual people working together rather than a featureless institution. The Associates awarded the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour for the first time in 1947.  

My book, What’s So Funny? Lessons from Canada’s Leacock Medal for Humour Writing celebrates the books honoured by the award and tries to contribute to their broader mission: “To encourage the growth of Canadian humorous writing.”

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What’s So Funny? is dedicated to Jean Dickson, Pete McGarvey, Judith Rapson, and the other members of the Leacock Associates whose volunteer efforts have sustained the medal program for close to seventy years and gave me something special to read over the last few.