F103 - William Stevenson Fonds

William H. Stevenson was born in London, England and raised in France and England. He completed his education at Russell College, Oxford University. During World War II he served as a fighter pilot with the Royal Navy, training at a base near Kingston, Ontario.

Following the war he worked as a reporter for several British newspapers including the London Sunday Express and the Sunday Times. He immigrated to Canada in 1947, working as a journalist for the Toronto Star and Star Weekly.

From 1950 to 1963 he worked as foreign bureau chief for the Toronto Star and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in Hong Kong, India, and Africa. Stevenson worked for many years as a war and foreign correspondent, and documentary filmmaker in Europe, the Middle East and the Far East, and lived at various times in Hong Kong, New Delhi, and Peking. As a producer for CBC Television's 'Tuesday Night' he produced documentaries, and in 1954 he produced the first documentary on Red China for NBC and the BBC. Stevenson left the CBC in 1976 to devote more time to research and writing. He is the author of many articles and numerous books of fiction and non-fiction.

Stevenson delivered the James M. Minifie Memorial Lecture at the University of Regina in March 1983.

Ronald C. Robbins was born in Wales in 1917. He attained an Honours degree in English as well as other certificates and diplomas from technical institutes and colleges in Britain and North America. Robbins served as a Royal Navy officer during the Second World War and as a reporter, desk editor, and news editor with British newspapers and the British Broadcasting Corporation in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Robbins spent 26 years with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). He was responsible for overseas bureaus, federal and provincial election coverage, and for coordinating staff training programs. At the same time he worked as desk editor for the Canadian Press wire in Toronto.

Robbins was appointed Director of the University of Regina School of Journalism and Communications in 1979 for a three-year term. During that time Robbins and a committee of journalists and academics arranged the curriculum for Saskatchewan's new journalism school.

Ron Robbins died in Victoria in 2009.