LAWRENCE SCANLAN

Writer and Journalist, Kingston ON

Lawrence Scanlan has been a journalist for four decades -- with daily newspapers (editor of The Nelson Daily News in B.C., literary editor of The Whig-Standard in Ontario), magazines (managing editor of Harrowsmith), and in radio (producer with two national CBC programmes, Morningside and Writers & Company). He has won numerous prizes for his writing, including three national magazine awards. His fourteenth book, A Year of Living Generously: Dispatches from the Front Lines of Philanthropy, was published in the spring to warm reviews. The Globe and Mail called it "an unusually intelligent, thoughtful, engaging and, at times, provocative reflection on some of the most pressing issues of our time: homelessness, crime, poverty, aboriginal rights, the environment, HIV/AIDS, international aid and development, cancer, gender equity and more." The book follows Scanlan as he volunteers with twelve different charities, one for every month. He rolls up his sleeves close to home (a soup kitchen, a First Nations high school) and far afield (building houses in the parishes of New Orleans, teaching journalism at a women's radio station in Senegal) while striving to answer big questions: How do we bridge the ever widening gap between rich and poor? In the face of human suffering, what—if anything—is our obligation?