Harry C. Hindmarsh

Harry C. Hindmarsh
Born(1887-01-13)January 13, 1887
Bismarck, Missouri
DiedDecember 20, 1956(1956-12-20) (aged 69)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Resting placeOakville and St. Mary's Cemetery, Oakville, Ontario
NationalityCanadian
Occupation(s)Newspaper reporter, editor, president of the Toronto Star
Known forJournalism that combined popular appeal with campaigns for social justice

Harry Comfort Hindmarsh (January 13, 1887 – December 20, 1956) was a reporter, editor and newspaper executive who helped turn the Toronto Daily Star and its weekend supplement, The Star Weekly into one of Canada's most financially successful and politically influential newspapers. During his 45-year career at the Star, beginning in 1911, HCH, as he was known, rose from cub reporter to managing editor and after the death of owner/editor Joseph E. Atkinson in 1948, he served for nearly nine years as president of the company.[1][2]

Hindmarsh shared Atkinson's principles that included the need for the state to help the poor, the sick and the elderly while safeguarding workers' rights and civil liberties. In 1915, he married Atkinson's daughter Ruth. Together, Atkinson and Hindmarsh ran the Star as a paper that spared no expense in pursuing sensational stories, playing them up with huge headlines and dramatic photos in a newsroom where the main operating principle was clear: "Get it first, sew it up, then play it big." At the same time, the paper campaigned for social reforms such as mothers' allowances, unemployment insurance, old-age pensions, votes for women, universal medicare and minimum wages. Under their leadership, the Star supported Canada's Liberal Party. By the time of Atkinson's death, it had become the largest newspaper in Canada with a daily circulation of 360,000 and annual revenues of nearly $14 million.[3][4][5]

Over the years, Hindmarsh was both revered and hated by those who worked for him. Known at times for his generosity to Star employees struggling with debts or illness, he could also seem bullying and even vindictive especially if he felt writers were becoming too self-important. Ernest Hemingway, who worked for the Star in the early 1920s, was one of many talented writers who quit or were fired. Hemingway posted a lengthy critique on the notice board about how the paper was run. "Hindmarsh is a son of a bitch and a liar and they are easy to understand," he has been quoted as saying. "A good man is hard to understand. A son of a bitch always goes by the rules."[6][7]

Hindmarsh was married to Ruth Atkinson Hindmarsh for 41 years and their four children included son Harry who had a long career as an editor at the Star. Hindmarsh died a few hours after suffering a heart attack in his office on December 20, 1956.[1]

  1. ^ a b Harkness, Ross (1963). J.E. Atkinson of the Star. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
  2. ^ Berton, Pierre (December 21, 1956). "Greatest Newspaperman in Canada, Is Tribute Of All Who Knew Him". Toronto Daily Star. pp. 1, 4.
  3. ^ "Atkinson Principles". Atkinson Principles | The Star. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  4. ^ Martin, Sandra (November 8, 2005). "Beland Honderich, 86". Globe and Mail. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  5. ^ Honderich, John (2022). Above the Fold: A Personal History of the Toronto Star. Toronto: Signal, McClelland & Stewart. ISBN 9780771000201.
  6. ^ Baker, Carlos (1969). Ernest Hemingway: A Life Story. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 120–121. ISBN 9780684147406.
  7. ^ Berton, Pierre (April 1, 1952). "Hindmarsh of the Star". Maclean's Magazine. Archived from the original on December 8, 2022. Retrieved December 8, 2022.