Mairuth Hodge Sarsfield, CQ (6 March 1930 – 7 May 2013) was a Canadian activist, diplomat, journalist, researcher and television personality, as well as an accomplished broadcaster, civil servant, and best-selling author.

Biography

Sarsfield was born in the

Little Burgundy Little Burgundy (, ) is a neighbourhood in the Le Sud-Ouest, South West Boroughs of Montreal, borough of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Geography Its approximate boundaries are Atwater Avenue to the west, Saint Antoine Street, Saint-An ...

neighbourhood of Montreal to parents Anne Packwood and Dan Vaughan and raised by her mother. She received her degree from

Sir George Williams College Sir George Williams University was a university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It merged with Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College to create Concordia University on August 24, 1974. History In 1851, the first YMCA in North America was establi ...

and

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

, and later studied at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

and the

University of Ghana The University of Ghana is a public university located in Accra, Ghana. It is the oldest public university in the country. The university was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast in the British colony of the Gold Coast ...

. She worked as host for the

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

, CTV, and

TVOntario TVO (stylized in all lowercase as tvo), formerly known as TVOntario, is a Canadian Public broadcasting, publicly funded English-language educational television network and media organization serving the Canadian province of Ontario. It operates ...

. For Canada's External Affairs Department, she worked on projects such as

Expo 67 The 1967 International and Universal Exposition, commonly known as Expo 67, was a general exhibition from April 28 to October 29, 1967. It was a category one world's fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is considered to be one of the most s ...

in Montreal and

Expo '70 The or Expo '70 was a world's fair held in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, Japan, between 15 March and 13 September 1970. Its theme was "Progress and Harmony for Mankind." In Japanese, Expo '70 is often referred to as . It was the first world's fair ...

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, Japan, where she organized the Canadian pavilion, for the respective world Expos. As a senior information officer for the

United Nations Environment Programme The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the Declaration of the United Nati ...

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

, she developed and launched a worldwide campaign known as "For Every Child a Tree". She was also posted to Washington and New York. She returned to Canada in 1984, and served on the board of governors at the CBC. Her novel '' No Crystal Stair'' was chosen for inclusion in '' Canada Reads 2005'', championed by Olympic fencer

Sherraine MacKay Sherraine Schalm, formerly Sherraine Schalm-MacKay (born June 21, 1975), is a former top-ranked Canadian Olympic épée fencer. She is a World Cup medal winner, elementary school teacher and author. She is a graduate of the University of Ottaw ...

. Mairuth was the mother of Jeremy Hodge (deceased 1979) and noted Canadian pioneering film-maker

Jennifer Hodge de Silva Jennifer Hodge de Silva (28 January 1951 – 5 May 1989) was a Canadian filmmaker. Her film, ''Home Feeling: Struggle for a Community'', revealed tensions between and police and residents of the Jane and Finch neighbourhood of Toronto. The resid ...

(deceased 1989).

Awards and honours

She won numerous awards for theme coordination at World's Fair pavilions for Canada, and has been awarded with the Chevalier a L'Ordre National du Quebec in 1986, the National Congress of Black Women Foundation's First Literary Award, for ''No Crystal Stair'', as well as 'Mairuth Sarsfield Day' by the city of Cleveland for her work with the United Nations in Nairobi.

Publications

*'' No Crystal Stair'' (1997) *''My Friend and I'' *''The Fourth Wise Man'' (1961 Television adaptation of The Other Wise Man)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sarsfield, Mairuth 1930 births 2013 deaths Canadian women novelists Canadian journalists Knights of the National Order of Quebec Black Canadian novelists Black Canadian broadcasters Activist journalists 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian women writers Black Canadian women novelists Canadian women non-fiction writers Novelists from Montreal