Carl Dow was for many years a journalist with such publications as The Globe and Mail and the late Toronto Telegram and Montreal Star. As such, he received a number of recognitions, including a nomination for a National Newspaper Award. While writing for national magazines, Alan Walker, then managing editor of The Canadian, said that he was one of the top ten writers in the country.
Carl edited tabloid and broadsheet dailies and weeklies, and monthly magazines. He wrote for television and radio and worked on camera and behind the microphone. As youth editor of The Montreal Star he was the first newspaper columnist in North America to praise The Beatles.
Outside of journalism and publishing, he worked as a labourer in farming and construction, sub-contractor in new-housing floor and wall tile installation, cost accountant, and truck driver. However, his all-time favourite employment was the eight years he spent as a part-time school bus driver while writing the short stories which became The Old Man’s Last Sauna. and several novels, including Black Grass and Wildflowers: The Women Who Made McCord Chronicle (coming soon from The BumblePuppy Press).
Until recently, he kept his hand in journalism as editor and publisher of True North Perspective on Second Thought, now off-line due to technical issues with its (ancient) content management system.
He was the father of two sons, Geoffrey and Thomas, in order of appearance, both of whom are writers and editors in their own right, and the delighted grandfather of two grand-daughters.
Carl died on May 20, 2026, at the Ottawa Hospital’s General Campus while awaiting surgery for an infected hip.
