Toye, William, 1926- : William Toye was born in Toronto in 1926 and joined Oxford University Press Canada following his graduation from Victoria College, University of Toronto, in 1948. He rose from clerk in the order department to production manager, where his responsibilities led him to study book design. He became a member of the Society of Typographic Designers of Canada (serving as its president 1961-1963). Toye was responsible for children's books at Oxford, where he encouraged the work of such Canadian designers and illustrators as Theo Dimson, Leo Rampen, Elizabeth Cleaver and Art Price. He was himself the author of a number of books for children, including the acclaimed "The St. Lawrence" (1959), a book on the history of the St. Lawrence river, and "Cartier Discovers the St. Lawrence" (1970), as well as collaborations with the artist Elizabeth Cleaver, including the award winning "The Loon's Necklace" (1977).
Toye became trade editor at Oxford University Press in 1963 and editorial director in 1969. During his career, he worked as publisher's editor with many prominent Canadian poets, including Margaret Atwood, Page, Jay Macpherson, John Glassco, F.R. Scott and A.J.M. Smith. He edited books on art and architecture, including Maria Tippett's "Emily Carr: a Biography" and "Toronto Observed: the Architecture, Patrons and History" by William Dendy and William Kilbourn. As well as editing authors' manuscripts for publication, Toye had a career creating various works of reference as a general editor. He was the editor of "A Book of Canada", an anthology of Canadian writing published by Collins in 1962, and, with Robert Weaver, of "The Oxford Anthology of Canadian Literature" (1973, rev. 1981). He acted as general editor for "The Supplement to the Oxford Companion to Canadian History and Literature" (1973) and for "The Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature" (1983, rev. 2001), for which he was also a major contributor. He was co-editor of "The Letters of Marshall McLuhan" (1987), for which he was responsible for the extensive notes, and his "The Concise Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature" appeared in 2001. The second edition of this work has since been released, and, while having reduced the 1200 pages of the original companion by almost half, Toye has nonetheless updated the remaining entries and added over sixty new ones. In addition, in his self-published work, On Canadian Literature (2005), Toye has created a regional introduction to 121 Canadian authors and their works that covers the Maritimes, Newfoundland, Quebec, and Ontario.
In 1956, Toye became a founding editor of the influential Canadian literary journal, "Tamarack Review", with Robert Weaver, Kildare Dobbs, Millar MacLure, Anne Wilkinson and Ivon Owen, and he remained on its editorial board, along with Robert Weaver and joined by John Robert Colombo and Janis Rapoport, until its demise in 1982. A colleague and friend of many Canadian writers, Toye was named the literary executor of the poets John Glassco, F.R. Scott and A.J.M. Smith. Toye retired from Oxford in 1991, but has continued to work as a freelance editor, most notably on "A Concise History of Canadian Architecture" by Harold Kalman and "Painting Place: The Life and Work of David B. Milne" by David Silcox.
