William Arthur HumberCM (born September 9, 1949 in Toronto, Ontario)[1] is a Canadian sports historian, author, journalist, environmentalist, and educator.[2]
Personal profile
Humber was born in Toronto, Ontario. He earned a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Toronto in 1972, and a master's degree in environmental studies from York University in 1975.[2] Humber began working at Seneca College in 1977, where he served as a department chair, and the director of Eco-Seneca Initiatives, the college's department devoted to environmental educational initiatives.[3] He retired in December 2018.
Writing
Humber is the author of several books on baseball, sports, the environment, and his hometown of Bowmanville, Ontario.[3]
Baseball historian
Humber currently serves as a selector for the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, and was a selector for Canada's Sports Hall of Fame and the Clarington Sports Hall of Fame.[3] In 1989, he was a subject specialist at the Royal Ontario Museum for an exhibit on baseball.[3] Humber was inducted in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame on June 16, 2018.[1][4] He was appointed a member of the Order of Canada in 2021.[5]
Books by Humber
Cheering for the Home Team: The Story of Baseball in Canada, Boston Mills Press (Erin, Ontario), 1983.
Freewheeling: The Story of Bicycling in Canada, Boston Mills Press, 1986.
(With Doris Falls) The History of Central Public School in Bowmanville, Josten's (Topeka, KS), 1989.
Let's Play Ball: Inside the Perfect Game, Lester and Orpen, 1989.
The Baseball Book and Trophy, Somerville House, 1993.
The Kids' Soccer Book and Medallion, Somerville House, 1994.
Diamonds of the North: A Concise History of Baseball in Canada, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1995.
(With John St. James) All I Thought about Was Baseball: Essays on a Canadian Pastime, University of Toronto Press (Toronto), 1996.
Bowmanville: A Small Town at the Edge, Natural Heritage, 1997.
A Sporting Chance, Dundurn Press, 2004.
(With Darryl Humber) Let it Snow: Keeping Canada's Winter Sports Alive, Dundurn Press, 2009.
(With Velma Grover and Gail Krantzberg) The Regeneration Imperative: Revitalization of Built and Natural Assets, CRC Press, 2016.
(With Bradley Humber) Soccer Triumphant, St. Johann Press, 2022.
(With Wendy Simone Shoen, and John Simone) Tex Simone: The Man Who Saved Baseball in Syracuse, Wildebeest Publishing, 2024.
Old Ontario at Bat: Baseball's Unheralded Ancestry, Centre for Canadian Baseball Research, 2024.
