Then-National Post reporter Robert Fulford is shown posing for a portrait in a May 26, 2004, handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-National Post, Kevin Van Paassen, *MANDATORY CREDIT*
Arts writer Robert Fulford has died, age 92 on Tuesday in Toronto.
With a career that spanned more than 70 years, Fulford contributed to more than 50 publications, was inducted to the Order of Canada and wrote or contributed to more than a dozen books, including An Introduction to the Arts in Canada and Mashel Teitelbaum: A Retrospective.
He contributed to Canadian Art magazine, Maclean’s and Toronto Life, and he wrote for the Toronto Star, The National Post and The Globe and Mail. He also hosted the CBC Radio program This is Robert Fulford.
Born in Ottawa, Ont. on Feb. 13, 1932, Robert Marshall Blount Fulford was the third of four children. Shortly after he was born, his family moved to Toronto and by the time he was in Grade 9, he was writing for his class newspaper. One of his first stories was about his next-door neighbour, Glenn Gould. Fulford went on to produce the renowned pianist’s first live performance of Bach’s Goldberg Variations in 1954.
In 1958, Fulford began working at the Toronto Star as literary editor and daily arts columnist, writing about books Monday to Friday and visual arts for the Saturday paper.
A decade later, he became the editor of Saturday Night magazine, which won multiple National Magazine Awards under his tenure. Then, in 1992, he became a weekly arts columnist for The Globe and Mail.
Among his many interests, he wrote extensively about the Canadian Abstract Impressionist group Painters Eleven, especially members William Ronald, Tom Hodgson and Harold Town, as well as the Saskatchewan abstract artist Mashel Teitelbaum.
Fulford is survived by his second wife Geraldine Sherman, his four children and two grandchildren.
Source: The Globe and Mail, CBC, Canadian Encyclopedia
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