More than any other individual, Jack McClelland contributed to the development of the Canadian publishing industry. He gave Canadian authors a voice, he encouraged innovation within the publishing industry, and he pushed Canadian literature onto the international stage.
Jack and Farley
Jack McClellend insisted on publishing Canadian, and under his guidance, many Canadian greats were born. Farley Mowat, for example, became great friends with Jack McClelland.
Back in the 1950s, Mowat was about to publish Lost in the Barrens with Macmillan when he met Jack at a party. Jack accused him of being un-Canadian. In true, blunt McClelland style Jack asked, “Why the hell wouldn’t you publish with a Canadian publisher?” Mowat admits he couldn’t come up with an argument. “Besides which,” he says, “he poured me a double lemon hard rum and my resistance dissolved.” Mowat never regretted his decision.
Mentoring Margaret
After reading the manuscript for This Side Jordan, Jack thought he saw great potential in Margaret Laurence’s writing. Based on his belief, he published the book even thought he was less than enthusiastic about its subject matter – the struggle for independence in Ghana. Jack wanted Canadian material, and right from the beginning, he gently nudged Laurence in that direction.
With a sense of relief in her decision to leave writing about Africa, Margaret Laurence began the manuscript for The Stone Angel. The Stone Angel and other Laurence titles that followed have become classics, not just in Canada but around the world.
Publishing Poetry
Despite the fact that poetry collections invariably lost money, Jack went out of his way to publish poetry. Jack was interested in publishing “experimental” and lesser-known Canadian poets, and he was never afraid of taking risks.
After Ryerson dropped Irving Layton for turning his poetry into “this latrine cartoon business,” Jack approached Layton about publishing his next collection of erotic poetry with M&S. As his publisher, Jack encouraged Layton to be even more outrageous. A Red Carpet for the Sun, the first Layton collection published by M&S, sold eight thousand copies. In 1959 this was an unheard of coup for a collection of Canadian poetry.
Can-Lit
Jack McClelland’s commitment to Canadian literature was legendary, and this commitment eventually led to a Canadian tradition in literature. Jack was not afraid to publicize Canadian books as “Canadian books” and became known as much for his dedication to Canadian literature as for his outlandish strategies for marketing it.
One of the advertising gimmicks M&S used to promote the New Canadian Library featured a full-sized cardboard flasher. The caption asked, “Psst - do you want to buy a Canadian book?” Opening the flasher’s coat revealed the list of New Canadian Library titles.
Like many others in the industry Anne Porter, co-founder of Key Porter books, regards Jack McClelland as the guru of Canadian publishing. Porter worked for many years at M&S and credits Jack with teaching her everything she knows about Canadian publishing.
“He taught me that without a vibrant, lively, and in many ways brilliant publishing industry, we would not have a country … It was so crucial, so critical that we have our own literature, history and biographies. Jack was a nationalist, both a cultural and economic nationalist,” she has said.
Jack’s tireless promotion of Canadian books and their authors led to increased interest in Canadian titles and an increase in the number of small publishing houses throughout Canada. House of Anansi, New Press, Tundra Books and Fiddlehead Books all emerged during this time of optimism. Success was not guaranteed, but the way was paved, and a new generation of publishing houses was born.
Lose of an Icon
After McClelland’s death Roy McSkimming wrote in Quill & Quire:
"After all, Jack changed the world: at least the world of Canadian books. Without his vitality and daring, this would be a much narrower, grayer, less interesting and less confident place. No world stands still, and the innumerable publishers, writers, and book people whose careers he made possible now benefit from his Columbus-like voyages of discovery."
Jack McClellend was undoubtedly a catalyst for change in the Canadian publishing industry. He took the risks that others feared to take and gave Canadian books the chance to succeed. His commitment to Canadian literature and his vision of Canada live on in the works of a new generation of writers and publishing houses.
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