Dad was quite a guy.

After his death in February, 1992 the family received literally thousands of notes and letters from his fans. Many said the same thing: "He was the best friend I never met."

Dad touched many lives over his long career in journalism, which included his column - which appeared first in the Hamilton Spectator and then in the Toronto Star - a National Newspaper Award for sports writing, a stint as Managing Editor of the Toronto Star, plus his TV and radio work. I've put together a brief biography here.

I get a lot of requests for copies of his books. They are all out of print now, but you can go to www.abebooks.com and type "Gary Lautens" in as author and find a couple hundred second hand copies at great prices (even a few autographed ones!).

We've set up a journalism scholarship at McMaster University in his memory, and yes, they accept donations from the public. 

The Lautens family recently donated his private papers - including his original drafts of columns, correspondence and personal memorabilia - to McMaster University. It is available for research purposes on the lower level of Mills Library.

Dad was one of those rare people who was the same in person as he was in public. And for someone who made his living in such a public way, he was a very shy and private person.

Through his columns his readers got to know our family, and we have been happy to share our favourites again. We reprinted his two Leacock Award-winning books, Take My Family Please and No Sex Please, We're Married in a single volume called The Best of Gary Lautens. Some of his last (and I think best) columns were published under the title Peace, Mrs. Packard and the Meaning of Life. We have one more volume of his family columns ready to go, but the Canadian publishing industry being what it is (don't get me started), we have not yet found a publisher for it. 

In the meantime, for those of you who miss your daily walk with Dad, I've reprinted here two of his most requested columns, called Advice from the Groom's Dad about my wedding, and another called A Country Called Canada. 

I hope you like them.