We received some very sad news today at This Magazine. Robert (Bob) Davis, our magazine’s co-founder and former editor, recently died while vacationing in Cuba.
Together with a group of friends in Toronto, Davis published the very first issue of This Magazine is About Schools—as we were once known—back in April 1966 “on a hunch.” As he wrote in his debut editorial, the founding group believed that such a radical magazine “would strike a cord.”
“We are serious in asking you to respond and to write for us,” he wrote, “This Magazine will die and should die if it merely reflects the views of a small group in Toronto.”
It’s been 45 years since Davis penned those words. Today, This Magazine tackles issues from coast-to-coast, boasts a wall’s worth of awards, and continues—we are proud to say—to strike a chord with readers across the country. All of this rabble rousing journalism is possible because one man followed a hunch more than four decades ago. Thanks, Bob.
A memorial celebration will be held at the Holy Trinity Church, located in Trinity Square near the Toronto Eaton Centre at 3 p.m. on March 24th. Memories and messages can be sent to bobdavismemorial@gmail.com. Donations welcome to Everdale.org.