Notable People

George Maxwell Bell (October 13, 1911 – July 19, 1972) was a Canadian newspaper publisher, race horse owner and philanthropist. He was best known as the co-founder of FP Publications, Canada's largest newspaper syndicate in the 1960s. He built his newspaper empire after inheriting the Calgary Albertan, and its $500,000 debt, from his father in 1936. He repaid the debt by 1945 and proceeded to purchase papers across the country, including the Ottawa Journal and The Globe and Mail. Much of Bell's fortune was built on Alberta's burgeoning oil and gas industry. He formed several companies in the late 1940s, which came to be worth millions of dollars when sold. Bell was a long-time owner of thoroughbred racehorses. He partnered with Frank McMahon and Bing Crosby to win the Irish Derby in 1965, while he and McMahon won the 1968 Queen's Plate.

"The Cremation of Sam McGee" There are strange things done in the midnight sun, by the men who moil for gold; The Arctic trails have their secret tales That would make your blood run cold; The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, But the queerest they ever did see Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge I cremated Sam McGee.

Bob Edwards was a Canadian newsman, humorist, editorialist, entrepreneur, and provincial politician. He is best known, as the writer and publisher of the early 1900s weekly newspaper, the Calgary Eye Opener. Bob was noted for poking fun at any politician or pompous person with a twist of wit. He also was elected to the Alberta Legislation.

Fred McCall was Canada's fourth-ranking WW One flying ace credited with having shot down 37 enemy planes. One of Fred’s most famous flights took place at the 1919 Calgary Stampede. He had just taken off with two young passengers, the sons of Calgary Exhibition manager E.L. Richardson, when his Curtiss JN-4D lost power. Unable to land on the infield because of an auto race, and seeking to avoid the Stampede crowds, he pancaked the plane on top of a carousel. It was a masterful landing — no one was hurt. The plane was taken down, put in a tent, and pieces of it sold as souvenirs. “I think he almost made enough to buy a new plane,” said his son, Fred Jr.

William Henry Cushing came to Calgary from Ontario in 1883. He opened a sash and door factory which develop0ed into one of the leading businesses in the province. He served six terms as alderman, beginning in 1890, and was mayor from 1899 to 1900. When Alberta became a province in 1905, Cushing was elected to the legislature as a Liberal member and appointed Minister of Public Works. He resigned that post in 1910 and became the first chairman of Mount Royal College's Board of Governors, a post which he retained until 1926 when he became honourary chairman. When Cushing died, his political, educational and philanthropic endeavours were remembered for Calgarian, as flags throughout the city flew at half-mast for a day.