comic essayist The Panic Button, Canadian satirical magazine
1959-1963
story editor, producer, CBC Radio Current Affairs Toronto including
'Matinee with Pat Patterson' 1968-1971
series on linguistics 'Ideas' CBC Radio 1969
senior producer 'This Country In The Morning' with Peter Gzowski, later
with Michael Enright, and then Judy LaMarsh for CBC Radio 1971-1976
(Toronto)
comic garden advice as 'The Plant Nut' on CBC TV's 'Bob McLean Show'
1975-1976 (Toronto)
Exec. producer 'Bob McLean Show' CBC TV 1976-1977
Executive producer 'The Vancouver Show' CKVU TV, Vancouver 1977-1978
wrote and directed comedy skits on 'Morningside' with Don Harron CBC
Radio 1977-1979
directed first radio dramatization of Alice Munro's novel Lives
of Girls & Women CBC Radio 1979
television columnist Maclean's magazine 1978-79
daily television columnist Vancouver Courier 1978-1979
panelist on quiz show 'Conquest' CBC Radio, Vancouver 1979
wrote and hosted satirical news broadcast 'Large News' weekly on 'McLean
at Large' CBC TV, 1979-1980
movie reviewer on 'The Radio Show with Jack Farr' CBC Radio 1979-1989
occasional editorials 'Commentary' CBC Radio 1980-1990
occasional film reviews 'The Journal' CBC TV 1982-1987
weekly feature 'Word Clout' with host Kathryn O'Hara on 'Later The Same
Day' CBC Radio Toronto 1990-1994
panelist on word topics 'Imprint' TVO 1990-1995
columnist 'Our Home & Native Tongue' in Canadian Geographic
magazine 1995-1998
actor in five episodes of 'The Newsroom' satirical drama miniseries
CBC TV 1997-1998
standup comedy performance on April 21, 2001 before audience of 1,000
at Centrepoint Theatre in Ottawa for CBC Radio comedy series 'Madly
Off in All Directions.'
2002-2004 Extensive media appearances across Canada in and on radio, television, newpapers, and magazines. The only medium Bill did not employ to spread the word about Canadian words was smoke-signals - - - and he's working on that!
Speaking Tour of Canada 2005-2006: From Kelowna, British Columbia, to Sherbrooke, Quebec, Bill offered comic coverage of Canadian words, place names, surnames, and lively sayings, speaking to enthusiastic members of Canadian Clubs and other organizations across the length and breadth of our Dominion.
union
affiliations:
ACTRA member
since 1976, acronym stands for Association of Canadian Television and
Radio Artists
books published:
Casselman's Canadian Words: A Comic Browse through Words &
Folk Sayings Invented by Canadians 1995
1st edition 1995 Copp Clark
2nd edition 1997 Little, Brown
3rd edition 1999 McArthur & Company, many reprints through 2006
Casselmania: More Wacky Canadian Words & Sayings
1996 Little, Brown
Canadian Garden Words: The Origin of Flower, Tree, and Plant
Names, both wild and domestic, entertainingly derived from their sources
in the Ancient Tongues together with Fancy Botanical Names & Why
You Shall Never Again Be Afraid To Use Them!
1997 McArthur & Company
A Dictionary of Medical Derivations: The Real Meanings of Medical
Words
1998 Parthenon Publishing Group, London and New York
Canadian Food Words: The Juicy Lore & Tasty Origins of Foods
That Founded a Nation
1998 McArthur & Company
1999 reprinted with new cover McArthur & Company
Canadian Sayings: 1200 Folk Sayings Used by Canadians, Collected
and Annotated by Bill Casselman
1999 McArthur & Company
What's in a Canadian Name?: The Origins and Meanings of Canadian
Surnames
2000 McArthur & Company
Canadian Sayings 2: 1000 Folk Sayings Used by Canadians Newly
Collected and Annotated by Bill Casselman 2002 McArthur &
Company
Canadian Sayings 3: 1000 Folk Sayings Used by Canadians Newly
Collected and Annotated by Bill Casselman July
2004 McArthur & Company
As The Canoe Tips: Comic Scenes from Canadian Life July 2005 McArthur & Company. This is the first collection of my own original funny pieces, bits of satire and nonsense.
Casselman's Canadian Words & Sayings July 2006 McArthur & Company. This collection includes new sayings and classic Canadian word stories suitable for the whole family and APPROVED FOR CLASSROOM USE.
freelance writings:
article on Canadian Folk Expressions in The Nelson Canadian Dictionary
1996
numerous feature articles, profiles, humour pieces, and book reviews,
in Toronto Life magazine, Toronto Star, Montreal
Gazette, Canadian Geographic magazine, etc.
biographical notes:
Read a longer biographical essay with
family photographs.
Please note that the first batch of my literary and broadcasting papers
will be deposited at York University library in 2008. These Casselman
papers include numerous pieces of biography, juvenilia, unpublished
novels, shards of my writing life, and early writings and publications
beyond those listed in the brief curriculum above.
Bill Casselman Biography 