J. King Gordon | |
---|---|
Born | John King Gordon 6 December 1900 |
Died | 24 February 1989 | (aged 88)
Political party | Co-operative Commonwealth Federation |
Spouse |
Ruth Anderson (m. 1939) |
Children | |
Parents |
|
Awards | Pearson Medal of Peace (1980) |
Ecclesiastical career | |
Religion | Christianity |
Church | United Church of Canada |
Ordained | 1927 |
Academic background | |
Alma mater | |
Influences | |
Academic work | |
Discipline | |
Sub-discipline | |
School or tradition | Christian socialism[5] |
Institutions |
|
John King Gordon CM (1900–1989) was a Canadian Christian minister, editor, United Nations official, and academic.[7]
Gordon was born on 6 December 1900 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the son of the novelist and future Presbyterian Church moderator Charles Gordon (known by the pen name "Ralph Connor")[8] and his wife Helen King.[9] One of his six sisters was the diplomat and educationalist Marjorie Gordon Smart.[10] He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Manitoba in 1920.[citation needed] A Rhodes scholar, he studied at The Queen's College, Oxford,[11] from 1920 to 1921.[citation needed] Ordained in 1927, he was a United Church of Canada minister in Manitoba.[12] From 1931 to 1935, he was a professor[citation needed] of Christian ethics at the United Theological College in Montreal.[13] He was dismissed from the college in 1934[14] because of his socialist views.[15] In 1935, he became a travelling professor of Christian ethics, working for the church's Board of Evangelism and Social Service.[16] He became the secretary of the Fellowship for a Christian Social Order the same year.[16] He was also involved with the League for Social Reconstruction.[17]
Gordon married Ruth Anderson in 1939.[18] They had two children, the journalist Charles Gordon[19] and the journalist and novelist Alison Gordon.[20][21]
In 1933, Gordon was one of the authors of the Regina Manifesto[15] and was involved in the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation.[7] From 1944 to 1947, he was managing editor of The Nation magazine.[7] From 1947 to 1950, he was the United Nations correspondent for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).[citation needed] From 1950 to 1962, he was the human rights and information officer[citation needed] for the United Nations Secretariat.[15] He also served as president of the United Nations Association in Canada[15][22] circa 1975.[14]
From 1962 to 1967,[citation needed] he taught international relations at the University of Alberta.[7] He also taught at the University of Ottawa for six years.[14]
In 1977, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada.[15] He was the 1980 recipient of the Pearson Medal of Peace[15][23] for his work in peacekeeping.[citation needed] He received honorary doctorates from the Brandon University (1974), Carleton University (1977), the University of Winnipeg (1979), St. Francis Xavier University (1981), and the University of Manitoba (1981).[23] He died of a stroke on 24 February 1989 in Ottawa, Ontario.[24]