- Person
- 4 July 1946 -
Rick McGrath is a Canadian writer, editor, designer, and publisher. He was born in New Westminster, BC on July 4, 1946. McGrath was a charter student of Simon Fraser University, graduating with an Honours Bachelor of English, first class, in 1970. He stayed another two years at SFU working towards a Master's degree, which he ultimately did not complete. During his time at SFU, he was editor of The S.F. View in 1965, was the sports editor of The Peak from 1965-1966, and from 1968-1969 he edited Canadian University Press news releases, was an editorial page columnist, and music/book reviewer. He was elected both undergraduate (1969) and graduate (1970) student representative in the English Department. As an alumnus, he was the editor of Afterthoughts alumni magazine from 1975-1979.
McGrath's reporting career continued well past SFU. Concurrent to his academic career, McGrath was the entertainment editor and rock critic at The Georgia Straight from 1969-1972. In September 1972, he became a reporter for the Richmond Review, becoming assistant editor in 1974. He left in 1978 to begin his advertising career by co-founding McGrath Dunn Advertising, and over the next nine years became co-owner and/or partner in three Vancouver ad agencies. A self-described "adman," in 1987 he became the in-house creative resource for Pemberton Securities in Vancouver, which was purchased by RBC Dominion Securities in 1989. After the merger he moved to their head office in Toronto and was named VP, Creative Services.
McGrath retired on December 31, 1999. He continued his writing and publishing after his retirement, contributing to SFU's AQ Magazine as a columnist from 2000-2004. In 2013, he started his own publishing company, The Terminal Press, and has produced 17 books to date. Books McGrath authored include Straight Man: Rock Star Interviews, Reviews and Photos from Vancouver’s Underground Press, and The Disenchanted Forest. He has published 10 anthologies dedicated to the works of J.G. Ballard — the Deep Ends series — and one critical study — Grave New World. In 2023 he co-edited a collection of Ballardian stories for Titan Books of London called Reports From The Deep End, and in 2024 he published Unauthorised Departures, an anthology of short stories from writers around the world.