Allan Fotheringham

{{Infobox person

| name = Allan Fotheringham

| image = Allan Fotheringham at the CFC Annual BBQ Fundraiser 2014 (15190304362) (cropped).jpg

| alt =

| caption = Allan Fotheringham at the Canadian Film Centre BBQ (2014)

| birth_name = Murray Allan Scott{{cite magazine|last=Hawthorn|first=Tom|date=August 19, 2020|title=Allan Fotheringham was loved, revered and loathed but never ignored|url=https://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/allan-fotheringham-was-loved-and-loathed-but-never-ignored/|magazine=Maclean's|location=Toronto|access-date=August 20, 2020}}{{cite news|last=Houpt|first=Simon|work=The Globe and Mail|title=Allan Fotheringham, dead at 87, picked at the pretensions of the powerful with his pen|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-allan-fotheringham-dead-at-87-picked-at-the-pretensions-of-the/|date=August 19, 2020|accessdate=August 19, 2020}}

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1932|8|31}}

| birth_place = Hearne, Saskatchewan, Canada

| death_date = {{death date and age|2020|08|19|1932|08|31}}

| death_place = Toronto, Ontario, Canada

| burial_place = Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto

| death_cause =

| resting_place =

| other_names = "Dr. Foth"

| alma_mater = University of British Columbia

| occupation = Journalist

| known_for =

| spouse = {{plainlist|

{{marriage|Sallye Delbridge|1963|1980|end=div}}
{{marriage|Anne Libby|1998}}

}}

Allan Fotheringham (August 31, 1932{{spnd}}August 19, 2020) was a Canadian newspaper and magazine journalist. He styled himself Dr. Foth and "the Great Gatheringfroth". He was described as "never at a loss for words".{{cite news|title=Allan Fotheringham|url=https://www.pressreader.com/canada/the-globe-and-mail-ottawa-quebec-edition/20200820/282166473552415|date=August 20, 2020|accessdate=August 20, 2020|newspaper=The Globe and Mail|location=Toronto}}

Early life

Fotheringham was born in Hearne, Saskatchewan on August 31, 1932. His father died from an appendectomy gone wrong when Fotheringham was two, and his mother remarried, with Allan taking his stepfather's surname.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GbUdAAAAMAAJ&q=Allan+Fotheringham+1932+Hearne+SCOTT|title=Following the Leaders: A Media Watcher's Diary of Campaign '79|isbn=9780385143950|last1=Cocking|first1=Clive|year=1980|publisher=Doubleday Canada }} He attended Chilliwack Secondary School, where he was active in student leadership and wrote for the school's paper, as well as the Chilliwack Progress. Upon graduation he studied English and political science at the University of British Columbia and worked at a variety of media outlets during his career.{{cite web|title=Honorary Degrees|url=https://library.usask.ca/archives/campus-history/honorary-degrees.php?id=483&view=detail&keyword=&campuses=|year=2005|accessdate=August 20, 2020|publisher=University of Saskatchewan|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200308134815/https://library.usask.ca/archives/campus-history/honorary-degrees.php?id=483&view=detail&keyword=&campuses=|archive-date=March 8, 2020}} He was best known as a columnist, originally at the Ubyssey, a student newspaper.{{cite news|title=Allan Fotheringham, former Vancouver Sun columnist, titan of Canadian journalism, dead at 87|url=https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/allan-fotheringham-former-vancouver-sun-columnist-titan-of-canadian-journalism-dead-at-87|first=Harrison|last=Mooney|date=August 19, 2020|accessdate=August 20, 2020|newspaper=Vancouver Sun}} He was hired straight out of university by the Vancouver Sun during the heady times of the late 1960s, the final days of the old Bennett Socreds provincially and the advent of Pierre Trudeau federally. Fotheringham's columns and commentaries brought him national attention as well as wider syndication and a broader subject base. He was one of the leading specialists in explaining the world of British Columbia politics during his time at the Sun.{{cite web|title=Biography|url=http://www.drfoth.com/bio.htm|accessdate=November 22, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100630180741/http://www.drfoth.com/bio.htm|archive-date=June 30, 2010|url-status=dead}}

Career

Fotheringham wrote for Maclean's starting in October 1975. His column appeared on the back page of the magazine for 27 years, and was so widely read and so influential that he is said to have made Maclean's the magazine people read "from back to front". Consequently, he dubbed a collection of them as "Last Page First". Some of his more memorable political nicknames include "the brogue that walks and talks like a man" (for Jack Webster) and its offspring, "the jaw that walks and talks like a man" (for Brian Mulroney).{{cite magazine|last=Lewis|first=Robert|date=August 19, 2020|title=The life and bravado of Allan Fotheringham|url=https://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/the-life-and-bravado-of-allan-fotheringham/|magazine=Maclean's|location=Toronto|access-date=August 20, 2020}} He is credited with coining the terms "Natural Governing Party" for the federal Liberals, and the "Holy Mother Corporation" for the CBC in the course of writing his column.{{cite news|title=Allan Fotheringham, occasional Post columnist and a force in Canadian journalism, dead at 87|url=https://theprovince.com/opinion/columnists/goldstein-dr-foth-was-a-force-in-canadian-journalism/wcm/7539e1b3-0516-4eb6-9515-039f62809dae|first=Lorrie|last=Goldstein|date=August 19, 2020|accessdate=August 20, 2020|newspaper=The Province|location=Vancouver}} His columns occasionally opened with the exclamation "Zowie, Dr. Foth!"{{cite magazine|last=Fotheringham|first=Allan|date=July 1, 1994|editor1-last=Lewis|editor1-first=Robert|title=Zowie, Dr. Foth, what's happening?|url=https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1994/7/1/zowie-dr-foth-whats-happening|magazine=Maclean's|location=Toronto|volume=107|issue=27|pages=44|access-date=August 20, 2020}}

Fotheringham was a regular panelist for a decade in the latter years of the CBC Television program Front Page Challenge, having replaced the deceased Gordon Sinclair in 1984.{{cite encyclopedia|last1=Jackson|first1=Kip|last2=Kennedy|first2=Mark D.B.|encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia|title=Front Page Challenge|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/front-page-challenge|date=March 4, 2015|access-date=August 20, 2020|publisher=Historica Canada}} He also wrote columns for the Toronto Sun for fourteen years until 2000.{{cite news|title=Celebrated columnist Dr. Foth a 'lucky bugger' ahead of 85th birthday|url=https://torontosun.com/2017/08/30/celebrated-columnist-dr-foth-a-lucky-bugger-ahead-of-85th-birthday/wcm/da658a9d-792b-4f4d-be6d-a16ea3cb5a8b|first=Jenny|last=Yuen|date=August 30, 2017|accessdate=August 20, 2020|newspaper=Toronto Sun}} In 2001, Maclean's underwent an editorial revamp, and Fotheringham's column was moved to an inside page to make room for a guest column. Soon afterward, Fotheringham left Maclean's, and became a columnist for The Globe and Mail. He had a national syndicated column that was in 20 newspapers, but he retired from regular contributions in 2007, after life-threatening complications from a colonoscopy led to his hospitalization for five months.{{cite news|title=Allan Fotheringham tells it like it was|url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/2011/12/14/allan_fotheringham_tells_it_like_it_was.html|first=Greg|last=Quill|date=December 14, 2011|accessdate=August 20, 2020|newspaper=Toronto Star}} Fotheringham continued to write occasionally for the Globe and for the National Post, as well as a Calgary magazine called The Roughneck.{{sfn|Fotheringham|2011|p=9}}

Later years

File:Grave of M. Allan Fotheringham (1932–2020) at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto.jpg

Fotheringham had honorary degrees from the University of New Brunswick (2003) and the University of Saskatchewan (2005).{{cite web|title=Grad 2003|url=https://www.unb.ca/alumni/_assets/documents/alumni_news/fall2003.pdf|page=9|date=Fall 2003|accessdate=August 20, 2020|work=UNB Alumni News|publisher=University of New Brunswick}} He died on August 19, 2020, at his home in Toronto. He was 12 days short of his 88th birthday. Although the cause of death had not yet been determined, his wife noted that he was in "generally poor health" in the time leading up to his death. He was buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto.

Controversies

In a 1984 column, he wrote that two Vancouver lawyers were "cementing their connections through the tennis club circuits and the wife-swapping brigades". A judge awarded the lawyers $10,000 each in damages for libel.{{Cite web|last=O'Malley|first=Sean|date=1991-06-01|title=Allan in Blunderland {{!}} [ ] Review of Journalism :: The Ryerson School of Journalism|url=https://rrj.ca/allan-in-blunderland/|access-date=2021-04-05|language=en-US}}

In a 1988 article about the British explorer Ranulph Fiennes, he wrote that "Prince Charles always supports him, claiming great results for British exports, but no one has ever been able to demonstrate that any scientific or historical benefits have resulted." A London jury awarded £75,000 in damages against Fotheringham and his publishers.

In 1987, Fotheringham quipped that the United States were not serious about free trade negotiations with Canada because its chief negotiator Peter Murphy had an inoperable brain tumor, which is alleged to have led to his dismissal from his Washington post with Southam News.

Fotheringham was repeatedly accused of plagiarism throughout his career. He told an interviewer that "I don’t think it’s all that serious" since "all journalism is based on basically what someone else has written or reported."

Invented terms

Affectionately known as "Foth" as well as "Dr. Foth", he dubbed himself "the Great Gatheringfroth", and coined some well-known terms in British Columbian political history:

Lotusland – British Columbia, particularly Victoria
the Granite Curtain{{sfn|Fotheringham|2011|p=225}} – the Rocky Mountains
the Tweed Curtain{{sfn|Fotheringham|2011|p=225}} – the Oak Bay, British Columbia–Victoria border, referring to the former's conservative British character
"the Brogue that walks and talks like a man"{{sfn|Fotheringham|2011|p=225}} – journalist and broadcaster Jack Webster (who had many nicknames, not all of them Foth's). Foth later adapted this phrase to "the Jaw that walks and talks like a man" for Brian Mulroney.
the Natural Governing Party – the federal Liberals
the Holy Mother Corporation – the CBC
Jurassic Clark – Joe Clark
"The only man in Canada who can't speak either of the two official languages" – Jean Chrétien
Coma City – Ottawa
Vancouver, the Narcissus of the West Coast

Quotes

"In the Maritimes, politics is a disease; in Quebec a religion; in Ontario a business; on the Prairies a protest; and in British Columbia an entertainment." {{emdash}} Malice in Blunderland (1982)
"The Tories are like cream: rich, thick and full of clots." {{emdash}} Fotheringham quoting a Liberal Convention Delegate in LOOK MA...NO HANDS (1983){{cite web|title=Full text of "Look Ma No Hands – Allan Fotheringham"|url=https://archive.org/stream/LookMaNoHandsAllanFotheringham/Look%20Ma%20No%20Hands%20-Allan%20Fotheringham_djvu.txt|year=1983|accessdate=August 20, 2020}}

Awards

Source:

Southam Fellowship in Journalism, 1964
National Magazine Award for Humor, 1980
National Newspaper Award for Column Writing, 1980 (first recipient)
Inducted into the Canadian News Hall of Fame, 1999
Bruce Hutchinson Lifetime Achievement Award, 2002

Bibliography

{{cite book |title= Collected and Bound|author= Allan Fotheringham|publisher= November House|location= Vancouver|year= 1972|oclc= 725832|isbn=0-88894008-4| author-mask=1}}
{{cite book |title= The World According to Roy Peterson, with the Gospel According to Allan Fotheringham|author1= Roy Peterson|author-link= Roy Peterson|author2= Allan Fotheringham|publisher= Douglas & McIntyre|location= Vancouver|year= 1979|oclc= 6438082|isbn=0-88894254-0}}
{{cite book|title= Malice in Blunderland, or, How the Grits stole Christmas|author= Allan Fotheringham|publisher= Key Porter|location= Toronto|year= 1982|oclc= 9482409|isbn= 0-91949301-7|author-mask= 1|url= https://archive.org/details/maliceinblunderl00foth}}
{{cite book|title= Look Ma {{emdash}} no hands : an affectionate look at our wonderful Tories|author= Allan Fotheringham|publisher= Key Porter|location= Toronto|year= 1983|oclc= 10653091|isbn= 0-91949318-1|author-mask= 1|url= https://archive.org/details/lookmanohandsaff00foth}}
{{cite book|title= Capitol offences : Dr. Foth meets Uncle Sam|author= Allan Fotheringham|publisher= Key Porter|location= Toronto|year= 1986|oclc= 16027895|isbn= 1-55013004-8|author-mask= 1|url= https://archive.org/details/capitoloffences00alla}}
{{cite book|title= Birds of a Feather: The Press and the Politicians|author= Allan Fotheringham|publisher= Key Porter|location= Toronto|year= 1989|oclc= 19847892|isbn= 1-55013166-4|author-mask= 1|url-access= registration|url= https://archive.org/details/birdsoffeatherpr0000foth}}
{{cite book|title= Last Page First|author= Allan Fotheringham|others= Illustrated by Roy Peterson|publisher= Key Porter|location= Toronto|year= 1999|oclc= 39386118|isbn= 1-55013995-9|author-mask= 1|url= https://archive.org/details/lastpagefirst00alla}}
{{cite book|title= Fotheringham's Fictionary of Facts and Follies|author= Allan Fotheringham|publisher= Key Porter|location= Toronto|year= 2001|oclc= 47238252|isbn= 1-55263357-8|author-mask= 1|url= https://archive.org/details/fotheringhamsfic00foth}}
{{cite book|title= Boy From Nowhere - A Life in Ninety-One Countries|author= Allan Fotheringham|publisher= Dundurn Press|location= Toronto|year= 2011|oclc= 760073216|isbn= 978-1-45970168-7|author-mask= 1|url-access= registration|url= https://archive.org/details/boyfromnowhereli0000foth}}

References

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{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WARv6lytd9kC|title=Boy from Nowhere: A Life in Ninety-One Countries|publisher=Dundurn|date=October 25, 2011|last=Fotheringham|first=Allan|isbn=9781459701700}}