Stephen Leacock
(1869-1944):

Born in England, Leacock came to Canada at a young age and grew up in the Lake Simcoe area of Ontario. In 1906, Leacock wrote his first book, Elements of Political Science; it was to become a standard collage textbook. In 1908, Leacock went to Montreal's McGill, heading up its Department of Political Economy and carried on in that capacity until his retirement in 1936.

A humorous, -- of the Haliburton, Dickens and Twain vein -- Leacock wrote his first humorous work, Literary Lapses in 1910; he subsequently wrote a humorous book, once a year, for the rest of his life. He spent his summer vacations on the shores of Lake Couchiching in Orillia, Ontario, his Mariposa, the little town in the Sunshine Sketches.