Toronto, June 24, 1997—Toronto editor Rosemary Shipton is the winner of the Tom Fairley Award for Editorial Excellence for 1996. The Editors’ Association of Canada (EAC) announced the choice at the Canadian Booksellers Association Awards Gala, held at Toronto’s Hilton Hotel, June 23, 1997.
Shipton was given the award in recognition of her work on Sir Wilfrid Laurier and the Romance of Canada (author, Laurier L. LaPierre; publisher, Stoddart, 1996). The judges commented on her enthusiasm and sensitivity, her quick grasp of the author’s intentions, and her ability to help the author carve the book out of an extended manuscript, all within a very tight deadline.
Shipton is well known in Toronto publishing circles. In addition to applying her excellent editing skills to a wide range of materials (trade books, scholarly publications, children’s books, college-level texts, professional journals and several prominent royal commission reports), she coordinates the Publishing Program at Ryerson Polytechnic University and teaches editing courses for both Ryerson and EAC.
EAC also announced the two runners-up for the 1996 Fairley Award: Laurie Coulter was selected for her work on I Have Lived Here Since the World Began: An Illustrated History of Canada’s Native People (author, Arthur J. Ray; publisher, Key Porter, 1996), and Debora Pearson for her work on The TV Book: The Kids’ Guide to Talking Back (author, Shelagh Wallace; publisher, Annick, 1996).
The 14 submissions embraced a range of subjects: Canadian history, contemporary art, architecture, dentistry, television, religion, science and children’s literature. The three judges for the 1996 award — Phyllis Aronoff, Marilyn Nault and Geneviève Boutry — are professional editors based in Montréal.