Allan Fotheringham “Foth”, “Dr. Foth”, he dubbed himself “the Great Gatheringfroth”

On my winter and summer walk at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto and directly behind his old boss at the Toronto Sun, Douglas Creighton, I found the boulder grave of journalist and Front Page Challenge panelist, Allan Fotheringham.

SUMMER

Saskatchewan born Fotheringham, graduated from University of British Columbia and would become the voice and writer on Western issues with the Vancouver Sun.  Where most Canadians will remember Allan most is writing for Maclean’s magazine starting in October 1975. His editorial column on the final page of the magazine for 27 years was so widely read and so influential that he is said to have made Maclean’s the magazine people read “from back to front”.

The columnist was promoted as “the wicked wit of the West” and came up with some outrageous insults like, Jurassic Clark booked a hall “that sleeps 300.” Brian Mulroney was “the Jaw that walks like a man.” and a fellow columnist who never turned down the chance for a free meal was “the fastest fork in the West.”

Laterally, Fotheringham was a regular panelist on Front Page Challenge having replaced the late Gordon Sinclair.

Allan Fotheringham died in Toronto on August 19, 2020. He was 87.