Stuart McLean

Stuart McLean on stage at the Centennial Concert Hall in Winnipeg, Manitoba

Andrew Stuart McLean (born April 19, 1948 in Montreal West, Quebec) is a Canadian radio broadcaster, humourist and author, best known as the host of the CBC Radio programme The Vinyl Cafe. He is often described as a "story-telling comic", though he has written many serious stories. He is well-known for his very distinctive voice as well as his ability to alter his popular stories to make it distinctive on every show.

McLean was educated at Lower Canada College in Montreal and graduated from Sir George Williams University with a B.A. degree in 1971. From 1978 until 1982, he made documentaries for the radio program Sunday Morning for CBC Radio, and from 1982 until 1984 he acted as the show's executive producer. During the 1980s and 1990s he was a frequent guest and sometimes host of Morningside with Peter Gzowski.

As a summer replacement show, Stuart McLean created a radio program called The Vinyl Cafe in 1994. By autumn 1997 the show was broadcast every Sunday at noon. McLean's books of stories from The Vinyl Cafe have won the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour three times.

McLean retired in 2004 as a professor at the School of Journalism at Ryerson University in Toronto.

Since 1998, Stuart McLean has taken The Vinyl Cafe on the road to theatres across Canada. The Vinyl Cafe is broadcast every weekend on CBC Radio and is also heard via satellite radio around the world and on public radio stations in the US, as well as a weekly podcast.

Early life

Stuart McLean was born in Montreal to Australian immigrant parents.

Bibliography

• The Morningside World of Stuart McLean (1989)
• Welcome Home: Travels in Smalltown Canada (1992)
• Stories from the Vinyl Cafe (1995)
• When We Were Young: A Collection of Canadian Stories (1996)
• Home from the Vinyl Cafe (1998)
• Vinyl Cafe Unplugged (2001)
• Vinyl Cafe Diaries (2003)
• Stories from the Vinyl Cafe 10th Anniversary Edition (2005)
• Secrets from the Vinyl Cafe (2006)
• Dave Cooks the Turkey (hardcover) (2006)
• Extreme Vinyl Café (2009)
• The Vinyl Cafe Notebooks (2010)

Discography

• Christmas Concert At The Vinyl Cafe (Audio Book CD) (1997)
• Vinyl Cafe Stories (1998)
• The Vinyl Cafe On Tour (1999)
• Vinyl Cafe Odd Jobs (2001)
• Vinyl Cafe Inc. Coast to Coast Story Service (2002)
• A Story-Gram From Vinyl Cafe Inc. (2004)
• Vinyl Cafe: A Christmas Collection (2005)
• Stuart McLean's History of Canada (2006)
• An Important Message From The Vinyl Cafe (2007)
• Vinyl Cafe: Storyland (2008)
• Vinyl Cafe Planet Boy (2009)
• Vinyl Cafe: Out and About (2010)

Awards

• ACTRA award for best radio documentary for coverage of the Jonestown massacre, 1979
• Canadian Authors Association Best Non Fiction book for Welcome Home, 1993
• Rooke Fellowship for Excellence in Teaching, Research, and Writing: Trent University, 1994–95
• Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour, "Home From Vinyl Cafe", 1999
• Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour, "Vinyl Cafe Unplugged", 2001
• Canadian Author's Association Jubilee Award, for "Vinyl Cafe Diaries", 2004
• Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour, "Secrets From the Vinyl Cafe" 2007
• In 2011, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada "for his contributions to Canadian culture as a storyteller and broadcaster, as well as for his many charitable activities".

Honorary Degrees

• Professor emeritus at Ryerson University
• Nipissing University (EdD(H))
• University of Windsor (Lld)
• Trent University (DLH)
• Served as Honorary Colonel of the 8th Air Maintenance Squadron at 8 Wing, Trenton from 2005 to 2008

See also

• The Vinyl Cafe
• List of Dave and Morley stories

External links

• Stuart McLean profile at cbc.ca
• Stuart McLean at The Canadian Encyclopedia