Beloved N.B. children's writer honoured with first Mary Grannan Day in 2 decades
CBC
"Pioneer" children's author and multimedia maven Mary Grannan is being honoured Saturday in Fredericton on what would have been her 123rd birthday.
Grannan was one of Canada's most beloved children's writers and radio personalities in the 1940s and '50s. She was best known for her shows, Just Mary and Maggie Muggins.
"She was an extraordinary woman," said Jeremy Mouat, president of Fredericton Heritage Trust, who made the request that saw Fredericton council declare Feb. 11 Mary Grannan Day.
It's been done before, in 2002, coinciding with a large exhibit of her work, but Mouat thought it was high time to do it again, in appreciation of Grannan's contribution to a culture he described as being very much "in flux."
"She was a big deal back in the day," he said, famous for her ability to tell stories that held the attention and captured the imaginations of children.
With the passage of time, it's easy for things to slip from the public's view, he said.
Grannan and her characters became "a global sensation" in the mid-20th century, said Sue Fisher, curator of the Eileen Wallace children's literature collection at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton.
Grannan published more than 30 books, she said, making her an anomaly in Canada at the time.
Earlier in the 20th century, Lucy Maud Montgomery had had success with her Anne of Green Gables books, but a few decades later "there wasn't really a children's literature presence," said Fisher.
Most books in Canada were coming from the U.S. or England. The industry only came into its own in the 1970s, she said, with the development of regional publishing.
"So, to have someone from Fredericton become a global multimedia sensation, I don't know who would have been her equal at that time.
"She was doing things that had never been done before," said Fisher.
Grannan's books were adapted from stories she originally wrote for radio, a medium she got into in 1935 at CFNB.
They were "good stories," Mouat said, "with goofy characters and happy endings."
Canada is preparing for U.S. President Donald Trump to hit the country with potentially devastating tariffs on Tuesday, but the federal government and the premiers say they are in the dark about what will actually materialize and how high those promised levies will be.
Former P.E.I. Premier Dennis King has been appointed as Canada's new ambassador to Ireland, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday in a news release.
Oxford and Elgin counties have the highest number of measles cases in the country, the province's public health agency says, as local medical officials warn of more possible exposures to the deadly virus.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford will take questions from media Monday for the first time since his Progressive Conservatives won their third-straight majority in a snap election last week.
Newfoundland and Labrador is staring down federal, provincial, and municipal elections in the next eight months, but for one new Canadian the opportunity to vote is something she's not taking for granted.
Even with a dirt trench running down the hallway, and exposed wires and pipes hanging from the ceiling, it still kind of looks like an elementary school.
Some of the most affordable rental housing in Nova Scotia is rapidly becoming less so, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation data analyzed by CBC News.
A two-time federal Conservative candidate in Miramichi says he doesn't think current party MP Jake Stewart can win again in a federal election that is expected to start within weeks.
Quebec municipalities and human rights groups are voicing concerns about proposed legislation that would require newcomers to abide by a set of common values.
Amazon and Walmart Canada have so far ignored the NDP government's requests to restrict the online sale of machetes to Manitobans, the province says.
Saskatoon city council is seeking money to crack down on unlicensed short-term rentals in the city, like those on AirBnB and VRBO, amid an active moratorium on licensing certain new short-term rentals.
When Kwaku Ayisi lost a friend who hadn't even reached 40 to breast cancer, it inspired him to look at the barriers Black women face in Saskatchewan's breast-health system.
A northern Alberta town is losing its only family doctor clinic and officials are trying to find solutions before the doors close for good at the end of May.