Fred Jacob (occasionally shown as Fred Jacobs in some publications about his work; 31 October 1882 – 3 June 1928) was a journalist with Toronto's ''

The Mail and Empire ''The Mail and Empire'' was a Canadian newspaper formed from the 1895 merger of '' The Toronto Mail'' (owned by Charles Alfred Riordan and managed by Christopher William Bunting) and '' Toronto Empire'', both conservative newspapers based in To ...

'' (now ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

''), and joined the publication after winning the publication's poetry contest. He was first a sports reporter but from 1910 on, Jacob was responsible for the literary section of the newspaper; he was also the drama and music critic. Occasionally, he wrote about drama in the ''Canadian Magazine''.

Early years

Jacob was born in

Elora, Ontario The Historic Village of Elora is a community in the township (Canada), township of Centre Wellington Wellington County, Ontario, (Wellington County) in the Ontario, Province of Ontario, Canada. It is well known for its 19th-century limestone arc ...

on 31 October 1882, the son of a lawyer and the nephew of a judge. As a child, he particularly enjoyed

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

. Later in life, while living in Toronto, he was the president of a lacrosse club for 16 years.

Fictional works

Jacob wrote two novels, ''The Day Before Yesterday'' (published in 1925) and ''Peevee'' (1928), both satirical works, and set in a fictional small communities resembling Elora; the first book included some characters resembling residents of the town. He wrote that his intention in the books was to "preserve an impression of the Canadian scene". A review of the first book provided this comment: "To the structure of Canadian literature Mr. Fred Jacob has contributed not only a substantial brick but a graceful vine." Jacob also wrote several popular stage plays, including ''One third of a bill'' and ''Autumn Blooming''.

Legacy

Jacob suffered from rheumatic fever as a child, and died on 3 June 1928 of a heart attack during a social function. An obituary in ''

Saturday Night Saturday Night may refer to: Film, television and theatre Film * ''Saturday Night'' (1922 film), a 1922 film directed by Cecil B. DeMille * ''Saturday Nights'' (film), a 1933 Swedish film directed by Schamyl Bauman * ''Saturday Night'' (1950 fil ...

'' referred to him as the "ablest critic on drama of the daily press in Toronto", praising "the soundness of his judgements and clearness of his expositions".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacob, Fred 1882 births 1928 deaths Canadian newspaper reporters and correspondents 20th-century Canadian journalists