Ray Argyle grew up in the British Columbia mountain community of Creston, the town that Edward Mallandaine helped found after having been present for the driving of the Last Spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Ray’s early memories are of fishing in the rivers, swimming in the lakes, and climbing the mountains that rose up behind his home.
These pastimes always left him time for reading, and Ray decided early on to be a writer. He got his first newspaper job fresh out of school and later worked for the global news agency British United Press, as a correspondent and bureau manager. This included a stint covering the British Columbia Legislature in Victoria, where he often strolled past Edward Mallandaine’s boyhood home. Ray later worked for the old Toronto Telegram where he was editor of the Telegram News Service.
Ray established Argyle Communications Inc., a corporate communications company, and has worked with business and government leaders around the world. He has been a school trustee, and a trustee of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, Ontario.
Besides The Boy in the Picture his books include Turning Points: the Campaigns that Changed Canada and Scott Joplin and the Age of Ragtime. He has written for Reader’s Digest, Canada’s History Magazine (formerly The Beaver), the National Post and other publications.
Ray has three daughters and four grandchildren. He and his partner Deborah Windsor divide their time between Toronto and Kingston, Ontario.