John M. A. Sutherland is remembered as an editor and critic, one whose voice spoke out forcefully and forthrightly in the 1940s, calling for greater attention to specific literary texts and less tolerance of literary generalizations. That he was also an anthologist, essayist, and poet testifies to the range of his literary application. He remains an important figure in the history of Canadian poetry.

He was born 21 February 1919, in Liverpool, Nova Scotia, to Frederick McClae Sutherland (later the vice president and manager of the New Brunswick Light, Heat and Power Company) and the former Lois Parker. Childhood was marked by the death of his mother (from tuberculosis) when Sutherland was seven; his father (who married again four years later) remained concerned about his son's health, for the boy seemed to have inherited a susceptibility to discase. Bed rest was deemed the appropriate preventive medicine, or the cure. During...