John Robins (writer)

John Daniel Robins (September 8, 1884 - December 15, 1952) was a Canadian academic and humorist.[1] A longtime professor of German and English literature at the University of Toronto's Victoria University, he was most noted for his book The Incomplete Anglers, which was co-winner with E. K. Brown's On Canadian Poetry of the Governor General's Award for English-language non-fiction at the 1943 Governor General's Awards.[2]

John Daniel Robins
Born(1884-09-08)September 8, 1884
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
DiedDecember 15, 1952(1952-12-15) (aged 68)
Middlesex County, Ontario, Canada
OccupationHumorist, professor
NationalityCanadian
Period20th century
GenreHumour
Spouse
Leila Isabella Douglas
(
m. 1917)

Robins was born in Windsor, Ontario, and educated at the University of Toronto and the University of Chicago.[3] In 1914 he attended the Universities of Freiburg and Marburg. He returned to Toronto where he taught German at Victoria College. In 1916 he resigned to enlist in the Canadian Army. He spent the next two years teaching musketry at Camp Borden. He left the army in 1918 with the rank of company sergeant major. He returned to teaching at Victoria College eventually becoming a full professor in 1941. He obtained a PhD at the University of Chicago in 1927. In 1917, he married Leila Isabella Douglas.

In addition to The Incomplete Anglers, his other publications included the anthologies A Pocketful of Canada (1946)[3] and A Book of Canadian Humor (1951),[4] the novel Cottage Cheese (1951)[3] and the posthumous short fiction collection Logging with Paul Bunyan (1957).[5] He served as a judge for the inaugural Stephen Leacock Award.[6]

References
  1. Northrop Frye, "John D. Robins". Northrop Frye on Canada, Volume 12. University of Toronto Press, 2003. ISBN 9780802037107. pp. 236-237.
  2. "Governor-General's Annual Literary Awards Present More Than Usually Interesting Winners". The Globe and Mail, April 15, 1944.
  3. "John D. Robins Fonds". E. J. Pratt Library: Victoria University (Toronto).
  4. "Canadian Humor Anthology Evokes Dolorous Thoughts". The Globe and Mail, December 8, 1951.
  5. "Logger Paul Bunyan In Canadian Setting". The Globe and Mail, May 18, 1957.
  6. "Governor-General's Literary Awards; Winning Authors Announced for 1946". The Globe and Mail, April 19, 1947.
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