Key Porter Books was a

book publishing Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

company based in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. Founded in 1979 by

Anna Porter Anna Maria Porter is a Canadian publisher and novelist. Life and career Born Anna Szigethy in Budapest, Hungary, she emigrated to New Zealand in 1956. She received a bachelor's degree and Master of Arts degree from the University of Canterbury. ...

, later well known as a writer, the company specialized in Canadian

non-fiction Non-fiction (or nonfiction) is any document or content (media), media content that attempts, in good faith, to convey information only about the real life, real world, rather than being grounded in imagination. Non-fiction typically aims to pre ...

, although it published some fiction too. It ceased operations in January 2011.

Writers

Key Porter published books by authors including

Farley Mowat Farley McGill Mowat, (May 12, 1921 – May 6, 2014) was a Canadian writer and environmentalist. His works were translated into 52 languages, and he sold more than 17 million books. He achieved fame with the publication of his books on the Ca ...

, Claire Mowat,

Allan Fotheringham Allan Fotheringham (August 31, 1932August 19, 2020) was a Canadian newspaper and magazine journalist. He styled himself Dr. Foth and "the Great Gatheringfroth". He was described as "never at a loss for words". Early life Fotheringham was born ...

Conrad Black Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour (born 25 August 1944), is a Canadian-British writer and former politician, Publishing, newspaper publisher, Investor, financier, and Fraudster, convicted fraudster. Black's father was businessma ...

Erika Ritter Erika Ritter (born 26 April 1948) is a Canadian playwright, essayist, broadcaster and humorist. Born in Regina, Saskatchewan, she attended Sacred Heart Academy for High School, and studied drama at McGill University and the University of Toronto. ...

Pamela Wallin Pamela Wallin (born April 10, 1953) is a Canadian politician, former television journalist, and diplomat who served as a senator. She was appointed to the senate on January 2, 2009, where she initially sat as a Conservative. Early life and c ...

George Bowering George Harry Bowering, (born December 1, 1935) is a prolific Canadian novelist, poet, historian, and biographer. He was the first Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate. Life and career Bowering was born in Penticton, British Columbia, and rai ...

Diane Francis Diane Marie Francis (born 14 November 1946) is a Canadian-American journalist, author, and editor-at-large for the ''National Post'' newspaper since 1998. Background Francis was born in Chicago, Illinois, on 14 November 1946. She immigrated t ...

Joan Barfoot Joan Louise Barfoot (born May 17, 1946) is a Canadian novelist. She has published 11 novels, including ''Luck'' (2005), which was a nominee for the 2005 Scotiabank Giller Prize, and ''Critical Injuries'' (2001), which was longlisted for the 2002 Ma ...

Maude Barlow Maude Victoria Barlow (born May 24, 1947) is a Canadian author and activist. She is a founding member and former board chair of The Council of Canadians, a citizens' advocacy organization with members and chapters across Canada. She is also the ...

Stevie Cameron Stevie Cameron (née Dahl; October 11, 1943 – August 31, 2024) was a Canadian investigative journalist and author. She worked for various newspapers such as the ''Toronto Star'' and ''The Globe and Mail''. She co-hosted the investigative new ...

Brian Lee Crowley Brian Lee Crowley (born 1955) is a Canadian political economist, author, and public policy commentator. Since 2010 he has been managing director of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, a think tank in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. From 1995 until about 2 ...

, Dennis Lee,

Mark Bourrie Mark Bourrie (born ) is a Canadian lawyer, author, and journalist. He has worked as a contract lecturer at Concordia University, Carleton University and the University of Ottawa. In 2020, his biography of Pierre-Esprit Radisson, ''Bush Runner: ...

Paul Cellucci Argeo Paul Cellucci (; April 24, 1948 – June 8, 2013) was an American politician, lawyer, and diplomat. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 69th governor of Massachusetts from 1997 to 2001 and as the United States Ambassador to ...

Jean Chrétien Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien (; born January 11, 1934) is a retired Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 20th prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003. He served as Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, leader of t ...

, M.A.C. Farrant and

Cleo Paskal Cleo Paskal is a journalist and a Non-Resident Senior Fellow for the Indo-Pacific at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Senior Fellow at the Usanas Foundation and on the International Board of Advisors of the Kalinga Institute of Indo- ...

Business

Key Porter Books was founded in 1979 by

and Key Publishers Limited of Toronto, Ontario. Porter sold her stake in 2004 and a controlling interest was acquired that July by the Canadian publishing company H.B. Fenn; Harold Fenn, chairman. The head office was located on the 10th floor of the historic Lumsden Building at 6 Adelaide Street East in downtown Toronto until September/October 2010, when Key Porter laid off 11 of 17 employees and relocated to a commercial business park in

Bolton, Ontario Bolton ( 2021 population 26,795) is an unincorporated town and is the most populous community in the town of Caledon, Ontario, Canada, in the Regional Municipality of Peel. It is located beside the Humber River, approximately 50 kilometres nor ...

(in the northwest of Greater Toronto). There it shared offices with H.B. Fenn Company Limited and Fenn Publishing Limited. On 7 January 2011, Key Porter publisher Jordan Fenn announced the suspension of operations and laid off the remaining staff. At the time, it was reported that all book releases would continue as scheduled via H.B. Fenn.

References

External links

Key Porter Books
(1998 to 2012) – archived 2012-02-14; latest copy 2012-07-17 lacks some features Defunct publishing companies of Canada 1979 establishments in Ontario Companies based in Caledon, Ontario Publishing companies established in 1979 Publishing companies disestablished in 2011 2011 disestablishments in Ontario Canadian companies established in 1979 Book publishing companies of Canada {{publish-corp-stub