The real estate mogul and altruist who saved CanLit
Canadian strip mall pioneer rescued McLelland & Stewart and was York University chancellor
Passionate advocate for Canadian literature, quiet philanthropist and real-estate developer Avie Bennett has died at the age of 89.
Bennett, who founded the real estate firm First Plaza Inc., is credited with “pioneering the retail plaza concept in Canada, opening the nation’s first strip malls in Toronto in the early 1950s,” according to his University of Toronto alumni profile.
But he went on to rescue Canadian publishing house McClelland & Stewart, became chairman of Historica Canada (cre- ator of the Heritage Minutes), and served as chancellor of York University from 1998 to 2004. He was named a Companion of the Order of Canada in 2003.
His Order of Canada citation calls Bennett “one of the great altruists of our time,” noting his support for Canadian culture.
“What was so unique about him was not that he was at points of his life a wealthy man or even that he was a generous man. It was that he was decent man, a very good man,” said his longtime friend Michael Levine.
Levine said Bennett “never, ever sought the limelight” and didn’t speak of his charitable donations to organizations, including the National Ballet of Canada.
Levine said Bennett believed it was important to support Canadian talent in telling Canadian stories.
“He was one of those individuals who helped Canada come of age,” he said.
“He came from a family of immigrants,” Levine added. “He was very conscious of how good a country Canada was for people who wanted to build a new life.”
Former Toronto mayor David Miller said Bennett was an “absolutely incredible man” who “was one of the most passionate advocates for Canadian literature in this country’s history.”
Bennett learned in 1985 that the Canadian publishing house McClelland & Stewart — home to Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje and Alice Munro — was in deep financial trouble.
“If Avie hadn’t come in, there weren’t many alternatives for McClelland & Stewart to continue operating. Frankly, I don’t think there were any alternatives,” said Brad Martin, president and CEO of Penguin Random House Canada.
“He was a great friend of the authors as well. He’ll be missed. It’s almost as if McClelland & Stewart had two iconic leaders. The first one was Jack himself, Jack McClelland, and the second one was Avie Bennett.”
In 2000, Bennett announced he was donating 75 per cent of the publishing company to the University of Toronto and sold the remaining 25 per cent to Random House of Canada Ltd., which is controlled by the German publishing giant Bertelsmann.
Bennett took the McClelland & Stewart tagline “The Canadian Publishers” extremely seriously, said Douglas Gibson, who was publisher of McClelland & Stewart from 1988 to 2004.
“We really tried to publish books from and about every part of the country,” he said. “We also published books by authors from every political side.”
He stressed that Bennett was never “just a money man.” He invested his passion and energy, too.
“He was an engaged public figure who really cared about the welfare of Canada and the future of Canada. He put his own money and energy into advancing the cause of Canada,” Gibson said.
He also wasn’t interested in doing what people usually do, Gibson recalled, with a chuckle. “He would say let’s come up with something new . . . but it was always about doing what was best for the book and the author. He challenged lots and lots of the established ideas. It was always a delightful experience working with such a challenging, interesting man.”
Author Elaine Dewar, who has just released The Handover, a book about how McClelland & Stewart came to be owned by Bertelsmann, described Bennett as a visionary businessman who was able to see the direction the publishing industry was headed in with the arrival of Amazon and ebooks.
“The writers are his legacy in a way. The fact we have a CanLit canon . . . he contributed to that, he kept the company going that produced it,” she said.
“He was funny, he was warm, he was sharp. Really, really bright, forward-thinking and he had an understanding of the political process in this country that was really astute.”
Gibson last saw Bennett last week at an event in the lieutenant-governor’s chambers at Queen’s Park introducing a new show about Canadian authors.
“Avie was very frail but he took the trouble to come and attend this event . . . and in the course of introducing the show I began by hailing Avie Bennett’s presence and the audience burst out in applause,” he said.
“They knew what an important figure he had been for Canadian writers and books.”