Stuart McLean

Stuart McLean Poems

Stuart McLean Biography

Stuart McLean (born April 19, 1948 in Montreal West, Quebec) is a Canadian radio broadcaster, humourist, monologist, and author, best known as the host of the CBC Radio program The Vinyl Cafe. He is often described as a "story-telling comic", though he has written many serious stories. He is known for his distinctive voice and his ability to alter his popular stories to make them distinctive on every show. McLean was born in Montreal to Australian immigrant parents. He was educated at Lower Canada College in Montreal, and he graduated from Sir George Williams University with a B.A. degree in 1971. From 1978 until 1982, McLean made documentaries for the radio program Sunday Morning for CBC Radio, and from 1982 until 1984 he acted as the show's executive producer. During the 1980s and 1990s he was a frequent guest and sometimes host of Morningside with Peter Gzowski. He was a contender in 1989 to become cohost with Valerie Pringle of the CBC's television newsmagazine series Midday, but the role went to Ralph Benmergui. As a summer replacement show, McLean created a radio program called The Vinyl Cafe in 1994. By autumn 1997 the show was broadcast every Sunday at noon. McLean's books of stories from The Vinyl Cafe have won the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour three times. Since 1998, McLean has taken The Vinyl Cafe on the road to theatres across Canada and the United States. The Vinyl Cafe is broadcast every weekend on CBC Radio and is also heard via satellite radio around the world and on public radio stations in the US, as well as a weekly podcast. McLean retired in 2004 as a professor at the School of Journalism at Ryerson University in Toronto.)

The Best Poem Of Stuart McLean

A Warning on Spontaneous Combustion

O whisky is the king of drinks,
Renowned the world o'er,
But here's a word o' caution,
Tae think of when ye pour.
There's a certain combination,
That tastes so very good,
But when it hits your tummy,
And mixes with your food.
That's when the trouble starts,
For yer pleasure hits overload,
And half an hour later,
Ye'll suddenly explode.
So there ye are in the pub,
Completely engulfed in flames,
And yer good wife's dashing home,
Tae lodge insurance claims.
Well now that I have told ye,
Don't say ye've no' been warned,
So don't try it oot yersel',
Or ye'll soon be bein' mourned.

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