Abstract
This is the story of the formative years of Canada’s most famous newspaper editor, John Wesley Dafoe. Written by his grandson, it is an honest account of the man that his family and his friends knew, from his unpromising beginnings in the backwoods of pre-Confederation Ontario to his early and unexpected success in nineteenth century Canadian journalism. It includes an examination of Dafoe’s family background, his education, his early career, his rise as a national and international figure and his lifelong search for a true Canadian identity. Some of it is told in his own words, some is drawn from the recollections of those who knew him. It is a quintessentially Canadian story and one that is worth remembering.