Happy Birthday, Marshall McLuhan
One hundred years ago today, Herbert Marshall McLuhan was born in Edmonton. By the time he passed in 1980, his profound impact on media and communications theory made him a scholarly figure known worldwide and affectionately idolized in Canada. No one finishes j-school in this country without reading his work (and sweating out an essay or two about his ideas).
Of course, the centenary of McLuhan’s birth hasn’t gone unnoticed in Canadian and international media. For your perusal, here are some of the recent stories that mark the date and remember the man:
- “Why McLuhan’s chilling vision still matters today,” by Douglas Coupland for the Guardian UK
- “A century after his birth, Marshall McLuhan is ‘still ahead of us’,” by Oakland Ross for the Toronto Star
- “The return of Marshall McLuhan,” by Michael Valpy for the Globe and Mail
- “McLuhan’s 100th,” focusing on McLuhan’s relationship with religion. Alison Smith on the CBC Radio’s Sunday Edition (audio, story starts at 29:05) (text)
- “Divine Inspiration,” also on McLuhan and Catholicism, by Jeet Heer in the July/August Walrus
- “Webs and whirligigs: Marshall McLuhan in his time and ours,” by Megan Garber for Nieman Lab
- “Marshall McLuhan’s legacy: Don’t downplay the comic books,” by Andre Mayer for CBC News
- “McLuhan at 100,” an essay by Nicholas Carr on his blog, Rough Type
We’ll let McLuhan himself have the last word, which we bet he would’ve preferred…
Have you seen any good tributes to McLuhan that we missed? Share them in the comments.
Posted on July 21, 2011 at 10:25 am by editor · · Tagged with: Marshall McLuhan
