Discover Ontario's history as told through its plaques
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Merrill Denison 1893-1975
Photo by Alan L Brown - Posted December, 2010
Photo from Google Street View ©2015 Google - Posted February, 2015
Plaque Location
The County of Hastings
The Municipality of Tweed
On Jamieson Street East
1 block east of Victoria Street (Highway 37)
Coordinates: N 44 28.607 W 77 18.671 |
 |
Plaque Text
A prolific and accomplished playwright, Denison was born in Detroit and raised in Ontario. In 1921, after pursuing studies in architecture, he became Art Director of Hart House Theatre, Toronto. Denison soon began to write comedies, some of which were conceived at his summer home in Bon Echo and performed in this playhouse. As author of "The Romance of Canada", a highly successful series of historical plays broadcast in 1931-32, he received wide acclaim as a pioneer in radio drama. During the following decades he devoted his energies to this field, preparing numerous plays for broadcast in the United States. Increasingly interested in business history, Denison wrote several popular histories of Canadian corporations, including Harvest Triumphant: the Story of Massey-Harris, during the 1950s and 60s.
Related Ontario plaque
Bon Echo Inn
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> Posted September 22, 2018
Every year, as the First of July approaches (Confederation Day, in my lexicon), I seek historical plays or pageants, patriotic musical performances, flag parades. And every year, I come up empty, even in Toronto and Ottawa. There's plenty of multicultural programming, face-painting for kids, and "activities", but nothing that celebrates Confederation and the nation--the very reason for the day. Yet we have the music; we have the dramas; we have the inspiration (2017 marked the 150th anniversary of Confederation). Why aren't we performing them?
It sounds like Merrill Denison appreciated this country, writing historical radio plays. Perhaps they could be revived and given new life. Better still, new creations could be staged, reflecting the grandeur and sweeping history of this country. It was done in 1926 for Confederation's Diamond Jubilee (which also galvanized a federal plaquing program), and again in 1967 for the Centennial. Canada150 was a major let-down, by comparison, yet we had more to celebrate than ever before. It's time to reawaken our patriotism.
-Wayne
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