Sinclair, Lister, 1921-2006 : Lister Sinclair, playwright and radio producer, was born in Bombay, the son of a Scottish chemical engineer, and received his early schooling in England. He came to Canada at 18 and enrolled at the University of British Columbia, where he was active in amateur theatre. He graduated with a B.A. in maths and physics in 1942 and continued his studies at the University of Toronto, graduating with an M.A. in 1944.
Lister Sinclair began his long career with the C.B.C. in 1944 as an actor and writer for radio. He worked with Andrew Allan on the famous "Stage" series, writing some fifty of the scripts. He wrote and co-hosted the science series "Science Review" and wrote a series on anthropology, "The Ways of Mankind", broadcast in both Canada and the U.S., as well as many other scripts. He won several Ohio Radio Awards for his work in radio.
Lister Sinclair also wrote for the stage and two of his plays, Socrates and The Blood is Strong, were published in the early 1950's. During the same period he contributed a regular column on music to Saturday Night.
Lister Sinclair became involved in C.B.C. television in the mid-1950's and wrote both documentaries and drama. Among his credits were many of the programmes in the series "The Nature of Things", as well as the acclaimed radio series "A is for Aardvark". He was an executive producer with the C.B.C. from 1967 to 1972, when he became executive vice-president (until 1975).
Lister Sinclair was a prominent figure in the founding of ACTRA and was chairman of CIRCOM (Coopérative Internationale de Recherche et d'Action en Matière de Communications). He was president of the Canadian Conference of the Arts 1980-1984. He has lectured across Canada and was involved with the organization of York University's Fine Arts Department in the 1970's. He has received several honorary degrees, the John Drainie Award (1971) and the Order of Canada (1985).
Lister Sinclair died in Toronto in 2006.
