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Clara McCandless Thomas, educator and author, was born in Strathroy, Ontario in 1919 to Basil McCandless and Mabel Sullivan McCandless. She attended the University of Western Ontario, where she studied English literature. In 1957, Thomas returned to university at the University of Toronto to pursue her PhD in English Literature. She received her doctorate in 1962 and was hired by the English Department at York University in the fall of 1961 as part of the first faculty of the new university. She published her doctoral thesis in 1967 as Love and Work Enough: The Life of Anna Jameson. Thomas published several works regarding the work of Margaret Laurence, including the critical introduction Margaret Laurence in 1969 from the New Canadian Library and The Manawaka World of Margaret Laurence in 1975.
Thomas had a close relationship with the archives and special collections of York and in 2005 the university acknowledged her contributions by the renaming the archives in her honour. She retained her office in the archives until 2007 and continued to publish several books after her retirement, including her memoirs Chapters in a Lucky Life in 1999. She became a Fellow of The Royal Society in 1983 and received honorary degrees from York, Trent and Brock.
Thomas died on 26 September 2013 in Strathroy, Ontario.
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2025/06/04 J. Grant. Added biographical information prepared by A. St. Onge and VIAF identifier.