McCrea, Walter Jackson

Walter McRaye, as he called himself, lecturer and entertainer, was born in Merrickville, Ontario on 31 December 1876. He was the great grandson of Major Thomas Smyth, founder of Smiths Falls. He acquired through his lectures and informal talks the sobriquet "The Apostle of Canadianism". McRaye toured with E. Pauline Johnson in Canada, Britain and the United States from 1901 to 1909. He often recited the Habitant poetry of Dr. W. H. Drummond. He wrote his memoirs, Town Hall Tonight, in 1929. Pauline Johnson and Her Friends was published posthumously in 1947. He died in 1946.

2015-05-21

W. Laufs