1911-1980
Media and Culture Theorist

Media Guru.

Marshall McLuhan was the media guru of the 1960s. His controversial theories about the effect of changing media on culture and society made him into a media figure himself. Readers saw his ideas as a possible explanation of the social turmoil of the 1960s, and media executives pointed at his writings as a sign of their importance. While many of his theories have been dismissed as confused and confusing, his influence on thinking about media and culture was significant.

A New Kind of Science Fiction.

A Canadian, McLuhan was born in Edmonton, Alberta, on 21 July 1911. Early in his career he was a professor of English literature. Upon taking a job teaching in the United States, McLuhan became interested in popular culture and its effect on youth. In the United States he was "confronted with young Americans I was incapable...