A Meeting of Minds

"Judith Skelton Grant has set out a feast for Massey's fiftieth birthday party. Admirers of the college, of whom I have long been one, will find it irresistible." -- John Polanyi, Nobel Laureate and founding Senior Fellow of Massey College "No other academic tale in Canada is like the one told in A Meeting of Minds. Massey College began as a glimmer in the imagination of an often crotchety governor general (Vincent Massey), then taken up by a brilliant but deeply troubled architect (Ron Thom) and a gifted, if eccentric writer, who saw himself as a failed playwright (Robertson Davies). In time, it became a unique centre of intellectual ferment, and that is what keeps this luminous history by Judith Skelton Grant so riveting, from beginning to end." -- John Fraser, Master Emeritus of Massey College "Massey College is one of the most distinguished academic centres in North America. It is at the heart of Canadian intellectual endeavour, but it also embodies the good nature and courtesy for which Canada is so well known. Here is its story, amusingly and informatively set out. This is all about what makes Massey such a magnificent, hospitable, and interesting place." -- Alexander McCall Smith, award-winning author and Senior Fellow of Massey College

Written by Judith Skelton Grant, A Meeting of Minds is the definitive account of Massey College’s first fifty years, its many traditions, and the hundreds of fellows who have passed through its halls.

Opened in 1963, Massey College is a residential college for graduate students at the University of Toronto. The college was the brainchild of Vincent Massey, Canada’s first native-born Governor General, who wanted to create an intellectually stimulating milieu like the one he associated with the long-established colleges of Oxford and Cambridge. Massey College’s first master was the legendary Canadian novelist, playwright, and editor, Robertson Davies. Davies and his successors – Patterson Hume, Ann Saddlemyer, and John Fraser – fostered a dynamic community of students, scholars, and public intellectuals that thrives today under the mastership of Hugh Segal.

Written by Judith Skelton Grant, A Meeting of Minds is the definitive account of the college’s first fifty years, its many traditions, and the hundreds of fellows who have passed through its halls. Full of wonderful anecdotes about the college’s notable fellows and alumni, this history of Massey College takes the reader into the heart of one of Canada’s most important intellectual institutions.