| Douglas Todd | |
|---|---|
Douglas George Todd |
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| Born | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Occupation | Journalist, Author |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Period | 1980-present |
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Douglas George Todd is a Canadian journalist, speaker and author. He is best known as an award-winning writer on spirituality, ethics and diversity with the Vancouver Sun newspaper, in Vancouver, British Columbia. Recently, his work has come under criticism for being biased and mean-spirited, with his article reflecting on the passing of Christopher Hitchens containing nothing more than vitriolic attacks on Hitchens' most controversial remarks. The article can be found here: http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2011/12/16/christopher-hitchens-defied-smoking-bylaws-and-sold-iraq-war-in-vancouver/.
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Todd was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, growing up first in east Vancouver, then his family moved to Lynn Valley in North Vancouver from 1962 to 1970. From 1972 to 1974 he was a member of the Creation 2 theatre ensemble in Toronto. He is a graduate in Religious Studies from the University of British Columbia, and attended Claremont School of Theology / Claremont Graduate University, in southern California, in 1977 and 1978.
From 1980 to 1983 he worked as a reporter for The Columbian, a newspaper formerly published in New Westminster, B.C. (not to be confused with The Columbian from Vancouver, Washington in The United States). When the New Westminster paper went bankrupt, he joined The Vancouver Sun where he has been a feature writer and regular columnist ever since.
He has three sons and was active in area youth soccer. He is also a bicycle advocate (How to end the bike-car wars) within the City of Vancouver.
Todd has twice taken first place in the Templeton Religion Reporter of the Year Award, which goes to the top religion reporter in the secular media in North America. As well, Todd has won three awards for opinion writing from the American Academy of Religion, the organization representing more than 6,000 North American religion scholars. In addition, Todd took first place in 2006 for the James O. Supple Religion Feature Writer of the Year Award, which honours the best in-depth writing and analysis of religious issues on the continent.
He received a National Newspaper Award in 2006 for a feature on his father’s struggle with mental illness, in Schizophrenia: A story of my father, The Search April 2009.
Vancouver Magazine referred to him as "arguably Vancouver's most thoughtful journalist."
Other honours include five Jack Webster Foundation Awards (twice for columnist of the year), a Western Magazine Gold Award, a National Newspaper Award citation for beat coverage, the Southam Presidentís Award, a Canadian Press Award and many B.C. Newspaper Awards. In addition, Todd has been short-listed 30 times for other journalism prizes.
He is the author of two books: Brave Souls: Writers and Artists Wrestle With God, Love, Death and The Things That Matter (Stoddart), which consists of spiritual profiles based on conversations with noted artists, including John Irving, Bruce Cockburn, Mordecai Richler, Robertson Davies and Carol Shields.
He also wrote The Soul-Searcher's Guide to the Galaxy (International Self-Counsel Press), which guides readers through 28 ethical dilemmas, involving everything from housework to sex to global warming.
After Todd received the eight-month Jack Shadbolt Fellowship at Simon Fraser University, he edited Cascadia: The Elusive Utopia - Exploring the Spirit of the Pacific Northwest, which was published in the fall of 2008 by Ronsdale Press. The book explores how Cascadia is home to the least institutionally religious people on the continent. Despite this, "Cascadia: The Elusive Utopia" argues that most of the region’s 14 million residents feel deeply “spiritual.” Many gain their sense of the sacred from the imposing landscape.
His blog called The Search receives half a million hits per year, allowing interaction with his readers. These include topics and people covering spirituality, diversity, immigration and ethics. These include Tariq Ramadan, the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, Philip Yancey, John Cobb Jr., Mark Wexler, Bruce Sanguin, John Banmen, Rabbi Harold Kushner, George Bowering, Richard Dawkins, Jay McDaniels, Matthieu Ricard, Charles Taylor and Eckhart Tolle.