‘Best editor’ calls it quits after 29 years

Twenty-nine years ago, Larry Perks agreed to edit the Niagara Anglican for a year.

Recently, he announced his retirement so that he could focus on his health. Mr. Perks, 69, said that at times over the years, he has edited the paper from his cottage, from Ottawa while studying at Carleton University, and, for five months, from bed when he was laid up with a bad back.

His long stint as editor is a record for any Anglican publication in Canada, and Mr. Perks said he has loved every minute of it.

He also noted that the editorship at times has been a family affair. His two daughters have helped, and his wife, Roddie, is the advertising manager, photographer, and general errand person.

Mr. Perks, who was born and raised in England, started work there as a reporter at the age of 14. He later moved to Australia and then Canada. He became the youngest city editor in Canada at the age of 29 when he edited the Moose Jaw Times Herald, where Peter Gzowski was one of his reporters.

After a brief return to Australia, Mr. Perks returned to Canada for good. He worked at the Hamilton Spectator as an editor, and then taught journalism at Ryerson Polytechnic University in Toronto for 20 years, while working part time for 13 years at the Toronto Star as an editor and reporter.

In the 1980s Mr. Perks was named by the American Press Institute (API) as the best editor in North America.

Mr. Perks remains editor emeritus of the Niagara Anglican and is an honorary lay Canon of Christ Church Cathedral in Hamilton, Ont.