James King on one of Canada's greatest publishers, Jack McClelland

James King is the author of six novels and nine biographies, including books on David Milne, Margaret Laurence, Jack McClelland, and Lawren Harris. His biography of Herbert Read, The Last Modern, was nominated for the Governor General’s Literary Award. A fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, James lives in Hamilton, Ontario.

And that's where I met him to discuss his biography of Jack McClelland, Jack, A Life with Writers. Among other things we talk of publicizing Canadian authors, happy childhoods, Patrick Crean, Esi Edugyan, magnetic personalities, P.T. Barnum, swearing, multi-national publishing houses, Canadian literature, Gabriel Roy, Margaret Laurence, Mordecai Richler, the New Canadian Library, editing, approbation, publishing poetry, Avie Bennett, the dangers of promoting Canadian culture, Alfred and Blanche Knopf, Bennett Cerf, James Laughlin, curiosity, Alice Munro, Michael Snow, Lauren Harris, The Handover, Dundurn Press, and naming Canada's national library after Jack McClelland.