Journalist, editor, historian.
Born on 25 July 1936, son of John Grannis Dafoe (1897-1973) and Marjorie Hall Metcalfe (1903-1997), grandson of John Wesley Dafoe and Herbert James Metcalfe, he worked briefly as a theatre actor before joining the staff of the Winnipeg Free Press where he wa successively copy boy, night desk reporter, general assignment reporter, drama critic, features writer, editorial page writer, legislative reporter, and columnist. In the late 1960s, the family moved to Vancouver where he was a columnist, features writer, and critic at the Vancouver Sun.
After returning to Winnipeg in 1982, he resumed writing weekend columns in the Winnipeg Free Press. He then became Editor of the Canadian history magazine known at that time as The Beaver (today, Canada's History) until retirement in 1997. He returned to Vancouver where he wrote the books Winnipeg: Heart of the Continent (1998, for which he received a Margaret McWilliams Award from the Manitoba Historical Society) and In Search of Canada: The Early Years of John Wesley Dafoe (2014).
In 1959, he met Nancy Cosgrave (1937-2013) in London, England and, on 29 February 1960, they were married at Winnipeg. Subsequently, they had two sons and a daughter.
He died at Vancouver, British Columbia on 3 April 2026.
Marriage registration [John Erannis Dafoe, Marjorie Hale Metcalfe], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Obituary [John Grannis Dafoe], Winnipeg Free Press, 28 February 1973, page 39.
Obituary [Marjorie Hall Dafoe], Winnipeg Free Press, 4 March 1997, page 28.
Obituary [Nancy Dafoe], Winnipeg Free Press, 17 August 2013.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 2 May 2026.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 2 May 2026
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