Mary Grannan (1900-1975), CBC’s children’s broadcaster and author, was designated as a national historic person on March 27, 2018, by Catherine McKenna, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Minister responsible for Parks Canada. Mary Grannan was named among the 12 new nationally significant persons, places, and events that helped define Canada’s history.
To quote from Parks Canada’s information backgrounder on Mary Grannan:
“Mary Grannan was an internationally-recognized, award-winning pioneer of English-language Canadian children’s broadcasting. Through landmark programs such as Just Mary and Maggie Muggins, she helped establish a tradition of gentle, fantastical, elegantly slow-paced, wholesome storytelling. …Her written works illustrate the influence of broadcasting on print in the mid-20th century. …”
I am thrilled by this great honour bestowed on Mary Grannan, and would like to express my deep thanks to Minister Catherine McKenna and Parks Canada, and also to Mallory Schwartz, Inscriptions coordinator and historian, Archaeology and History Branch, Indigenous Affairs and Cultural Heritage Directorate.
Mary Grannan was designated as a national historic person on March 27, 2018, by Catherine McKenna, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Minister responsible for Parks Canada. read more...
Just Mary, Mary Grannan's signature radio program for children was first broadcast on radio in November 1937 on CFNB Fredericton. The program was also carried on CBC for a number of months in 1938, but in September 1939, Mary Grannan and her Just Mary program moved to CBC Radio, beginning a long, successful broadcast run that continued until June 1962. read more...
Just Mary: the Musical, based on the book Just Mary: the Life of Mary Evelyn Grannan, is under development by Helen & Alastair MacCulloch (Optimistic Music Company). read more...
Margaret Anne Hume's interest in Mary Grannan arose from happy childhood memories of enjoying her TV shows and books of Maggie Muggins. "I had never had the pleasure of meeting her or even seeing her in person, but I was always aware that she was from my home province of New Brunswick", says Hume. "My later desire to write her biography grew from an adult curiosity about this woman -- so well known throughout Canada for over two decades -- now largely forgotten. Since I could not find any biographies about her because none had been written, I eventually decided to write one myself."
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Children's author Mary Grannan published over thirty best-selling books from her CBC Radio shows Just Mary and "Maggie Muggins." She had other radio series that were never released in print. In the Just Mary Reader Mary Grannan's biographer Margaret Anne Hume presents a selection of stories from radio drama series Jubilee Road and Land of Supposing.
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Albert Mair MacLean chronicles his family history and his own life story, featuring the gripping details of his experiences as a pilot of an Avro Lancaster Mk III bomber in World War II. With warmth and humour, he recounts his years raising a family and working for the T. Eaton Company. Edited and co-written by his daughter, Margaret Anne Hume.
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