Canada Cool

judges

Meet our Judges

Many of the judges are members of the Canadian Chapter of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW), the preeminent professional association of travel journalists in North America.

Julia Asselstine, Associate Editor of EQUINOX magazine. "I was born in Canada and have lived here all my life. Through my work I have travelled to many wonderful places worldwide, but for me nothing compares to Canada. By travelling this country from coast to coast, revelling in the beauty of the Rockies, the rolling plains, the whales off of the east coast and the wide diversity of cultures and people, I have realized how fortunate I am to be Canadian."
Laszlo Buhasz (SATW), The Globe and Mail's Travel Writer, has been with the paper for 21 years. He was previously Deputy Managing Editor, Assistant Editor, Executive Editor and Travel Editor. Before joining The Globe, he was Managing Editor of The Albertan, a now-defunct Calgary daily. His travel-writing awards include a Society of American Travel Writers bronze for Travel Writer of the Year, and the Caravela de Portugal.
Debra Cummings (SATW). Based in Calgary and winner of the international travel writing award ‘Northern Lights’, Debra has worked as a waitress in Zermatt, a lifeguard on a kibbutz, a canoe tripper in northern Manitoba and for the past 15 years as an editor and writer for both Calgary daily newspapers. Born in Quebec and raised in Winnipeg, Debra studied English at the University of Winnipeg, Journalism at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute, French at Laval Universite and Arts Journalism at The Banff Centre. She's a member of the Society of American Travel Writers, a serious foodie, a keen skier and volunteers at Kids Help Phone.
Monique Nuytemans DesRoches (SATW) is a travel writer and photographer for over 25 years. She writes mainly in French in Quebec but she has been published in English Canada and the United States, as well as in France and Italy. She has received many writing prizes in her distinguished career. Monique Nuytemans led the Canadian chapter of the Society of American Travel Writers for two years. She presently sits on the ethics committee of the Travel Journalist Guild.
Joanna Ebbutt (SATW) has travelled through and written extensively about Canada. She co-authored Western Canada: Off The Beaten Track (distributed in North America by Globe Pequot) and wrote Insight Pocket Guides: Toronto. She is also the Update Editor for Insight Guides: Canada and Insight Guides: Montreal.
Paul Glassman (SATW). Originally from the States, Paul Glassman lived in Mexico and Guatemala before he decided that Canada is the coolest place to be--long before the United Nations said so. He's the author of guidebooks on Montreal, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras, Belize, and Nicaragua, is a book editor and on-line journalist.
Marge George is a Toronto-based freelance journalist, travel writer and photographer. She is the author of Junior Canadian Novels, from Scholastic, and has written numerous travel newpaper stories, magazine articles and video scripts.
Gerry Hall (SATW) has worked as a travel editor and writer for more than 30 years. Most of that time was spent as the travel editor of the Toronto Star, where he also served as Sunday editor, assistant managing editor in charge of features, sports editor, night city editor and as a general reporter. He is the author of two books: Canada: A candid guide to the big land and Offbeat Canada. Now a freelance writer, Hall still does articles for The Star's travel section and for several magazines. He has appeared frequently on TV and radio, mostly on travel subjects. He and his wife, Margaret, have seven children.
Anna Hobbs (SATW). Originally from Montreal and a graduate of McGill University, Anna is one of the founding editors of Canadian Living magazine. She was Associate Editor from 1989 to 1999, and over the years her responsibilities have included the fashion, crafts, gardening and travel sections. She has also had her own consulting business, has been a Lecturer, and an Adult Education and High School Teacher and Director of Home Economics.
Sue Lebrecht (SATW) is a Toronto-based freelance writer specializing in adventure, skiing, mountain biking and active pursuits of the offbeat kind. She writes the weekly "Outdoors Ontario" travel colum for the Toronto Star newspaper and is a regular contributor to Ski Canada magazine. She is the author of five books: Mountain Bike Here: Ontario and Central & Western New York (Boston Mills Press 1999), Toronto Parks (Klotzek Press 1997), Adventuring round Vancouver Island (Douglas & McIntyre, 1997), 52 Weekend Activities Around Vancouver (Douglas & McIntyre, 1995), 52 Weekend Activities for the Toronto Adventurer (Whitecap Books, 1990).
Benoit Legault has been reporting about travel for 15 years. He's a freelance contributor to radio and print media in French and English. He has worked for La Presse de Montréal, the Canadian Airlines Magazine, DreamScapes and Radio-Canada. Benoit is al in his 5th year as Travel Editor of L'Express de Toronto.
Mark Lightbody was born and grew up in Montreal and was educated there and in London, Ontario. He holds an honours degree in journalism and has travelled in nearly 50 countries. He is the co-ordinating author of Lonely Planet's Canada, and updated the Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan sections for the current edition.
Percy Rowe (SATW). As a full-time newspaperman for 50 years and Travel Editor of the Toronto Sun for 20 years, he has visited some 150 countries of the world, 40 Caribbean islands, every U.S. state and of course all Canadian provinces and territories. H still travels as a freelance writer. He is the author of five non-fiction books, two of them on travel.
Gilda Swartz - Senior Editor Canadian Living. Born, raised and educated in Toronto, Gilda has been Senior Editor at Canadian Living since 1988, responsible for stories and special sections on topics ranging from health and fitness to travel and education. Gilda has travelled extensively throughout the country. She's been welcomed in communities as far north as Pangnirtung, on Baffin Island; been privileged to observe grizzlies in the wilderness in British Columbia, and searched out the best cappuccino bars in most of our major cities.
Colleen Whitney Thompson (SATW) is former Travel Editor and Columnist for Flare Magazine, Travel Columnist for the Saint John Telegraph Journal, and the author of two guidebooks, one rated by the New York Times as "best and most readable of local guides. She is currently Travel Columnist for the Fredericton Daily Gleaner. She is a winner of the TMAC-American Express Award for "best magazine story on Canada". Home base is in New Brunswick, Canada.
Betty Zyvatkauskas (SATW). Award-winning writer Betty Zyvatkauskas has written extensively on Canadian travel over the last two decades for such publications as The Globe and Mail and Toronto Life. She is the author of the best-selling guidebook Great Getaways: The Best Day Trips in Southern Ontario (Random House Canada, 1996). Her latest book is Naturally Ontario: Exploring the Wealth of Ontario's Wild Places (Random House Canada, 1999). She has also contributed to National Geographic's Great Family Adventures.
Jill Rigby has been Travel Editor at the Toronto Sun for the past 14 years through she has always been an inveterate traveler living and working in places as varied as Luxor, Egypt and Paris, France. At age 19, the Canadian-born writer/photographer/editor spent a year hitch-hiking through Central America. Since then, Rigby has attained fluency in French, Spanish and Italian. Before the Sun, she worked as a journalist at the Toronto Star, was an on-air reporter at CBC, spent a year with ABC Paris, longer with CFTO-TV and was head of corporate communications for Oxford Developments. Educational achievements include a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto, Television Sciences Diploma from the Banff School of Fine Arts, and a Masters in Journalism from Columbia University, New York.