APRIL 1977 FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS SPRING The systematic work ...

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EDGAR JOCELYN STONE
A life member of the club, Edgar Stone was
80 when he died on Friday, August 12. He had long
been prominent in theatrical circles of his native
city, Toronto. From 1929 to 1934 he was the director
of Hart House Theatre where he was instrumental in
the development of local talent, both in acting and
in the writing of plays. For a number of years he
had his own studio for the production of plays for
radio and television.
Ed produced and directed many plays at the
Arts and Letters Club, some of which won Dominion
Drama Awards (i.e. The Poacher, and Napoleon Crosses
the Rockies). He was also active in the club's
annual Spring Revues.
He was a discriminating collector of objects
d'art, especially of Chinese ivories and of English
pewter, of which he had an outstanding collection.
Edgar and his wife Louise were active members and
benefactors of the Royal Ontario Museum. More
latterly he devoted much time to the Order of St.
John of Jerusalem, of which he was president of
the Toronto Council.
A further distinction: he was one of the
original (1932) seven members of the B.O.F. ("Birds
of a Feather" or "Bloody Old Fools" -- all club
members), of which only two survive.
Chuck Matthews
ALLAN J.
RAE
The legend of the late Al Rae looms largest
as the jovial scourge of Lake Ontario. He
campaigned his 28-foot sloop Valhalla for more than
30 seasons, capturing every trophy available to him.
A long-time resident of Algonquin Island, in a home
he designed and built himself right behind the Queen
City Yacht Club, he had spent the weekend sailing
before passing away quietly in his sleep on July 11.
The donations made in his memory are being used to
establish a permanent display at the Marine Museum
of Upper Canada.
Al Rae had been active in the Toronto
commercial art scene for 50 years. Born in Glasgow,
he arrived in Toronto in 1923 at the age of 14 and
was still in his teens when he landed his first job
in the graphic arts. Stints with Hood-Rankin,
Famous Players, Rapid Grip and Batten, and Pringle
and Booth were followed by the decision to set out
on his own, as Al Rae Retouching, in the late 1940s.
Says his architect son, Allan Jr.: "Dad was his own
best critic".
John Snell, the newly-appointed curator of