Rick Salutin

Rick ‘wacko’ Salutin (born August 30, 1942) is a Canadian novelist, playwright, journalist, and critic and has been writing for more than forty years. Until October 1, 2010, he wrote a regular column in ''The Globe and Mail''; on February 11, 2011, he began a weekly column in the ''Toronto Star''.

He currently teaches a half course on Canadian media and culture in University College (CDN221) at the University of Toronto. He is a contributing editor of ''This Magazine''. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Near Eastern and Jewish Studies at Brandeis University and got his Master of Arts degree in religion at Columbia University. He also studied philosophy at the New School for Social Research in New York City. He was once a trade union organizer in Toronto and participated in the Artistic Woodwork strike.

Salutin is interested in communication and has praised Harold Innis, an economist who taught at the University of Toronto and conceived of the staples thesis, for his outlook in communications. Salutin has a child with ''The Fifth Estate'' journalist Theresa Burke, whom he has cited as the model for the characters Amy Bert and Antia in ''The Womanizer''. Provided by Wikipedia