Toronto – L.R. “Red” Wilson’s impact has been felt across generations of Canadians businesspeople and students. A new biography honours a man who followed his interests wherever they led, sought out new challenges whenever he could, and above all, always worked to leave every place he stopped along better than he found it.
Born in Port Colborne in 1940, Red Wilson’s trajectory as a student, foreign service officer, senior civil servant, business leader, supporter of higher education, and philanthropist is an extraordinary tale of post-Second World War Canada. Over his career, Mr. Wilson held executive leadership positions in some of Canada’s largest and most important firms, including Redpath Industries, Scotiabank, BCE, and CAE, and was chancellor of McMaster University. Tracing the contours of Mr. Wilson’s fascinating journey, Canadian business historian and University of Toronto Professor, Dimitry Anastakis brings to light an inspiring story of commitment, determination, and service.
L.R. “Red” Wilson, A Canadian Journey Lessons in Life, Leadership, and Legacy portrays Mr. Wilson’s professional and personal lessons, learned from a lifetime of choices, and illustrates the importance of a strong character and astute values in achieving greatness. The book was published this month published by Aevo UTP.
Dimitry Anastakis is Professor and L.R. Wilson/R.J. Currie Chair in Canadian Business History at the University of Toronto in the Department of History and the Rotman School of Management, where he teaches about business, the state and politics, globalization, and automobility. He has published twelve books and edited collections, including five books on aspects of the Canadian auto industry in North America including Dream Car: Malcolm Bricklin’s Fantastic SV1 and the End of Industrial Modernity
Advance Praise
“Red Wilson is a modest, low-profile, and unassuming Canadian leader and icon who has made a remarkable and lasting contribution to Canada in higher education, business, and public service. His secret sauce is his innate sense of humour and his unique ability to unite people in common cause to solve difficult problems. An incredible role model par excellence.” - Anthony (Tony) Fell O.C. LL.D, Retired Deputy Chair, Royal Bank of Canada and University Health Network
“I first met Red Wilson when he was a deputy minister at Queen’s Park more than four decades ago. Over the years, I’ve watched him contribute to Canada as very few have. What’s made Red’s contributions so important and distinctive is that they’ve happened in both the private and the public sectors. If I can put it this way, he’s done well, but he’s also done good. And how he’s done it can be an example to the rest of us on how to live a meaningful life and make Canada better in the process. Red’s path to greatness is a story worth telling and reading, and now I’m glad we can. Well done, Dimitry Anastakis.” - Steve Paikin, Host of, The Paikin Podcast and Co-host of the #onpoli podcast
“With a deft writing touch, and a nose for memorable anecdotes, historian Dimitry Anastakis chronicles a great Canadian life. The biography of business leader Red Wilson meticulously charts a dizzyingly varied career, set against the canvas of post–-Second World War Canada, with all its optimism, achievement, and, at times, disappointment. The book is jam-packed with important names and big jobs, but the writer always takes us back to the essential ingredient of family.” - Gordon Pitts, Author of Unicorn in the Woods: How East Coast Geeks and Dreamers Are Changing the Game
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For more information:
Ken McGuffin
Manager, Media Relations
Rotman School of Management
University of Toronto
E-mail: mcguffin@rotman.utoronto.ca