Over one hundred years ago, in the City of Toronto, George owned a newspaper, the Globe, which was one of the forerunners of the Globe and Mail--Canada's national newspaper. George was an upstanding, religious man in his community. He attended service regularly at St. James Cathedral on King Street, where there was a pew reserved for only George and his family and no one else.
One day, George upset one of his compositors (the common term today is typesetter) by firing him. I'm sure we could imagine that this unemployed individual would be very irate, since he probably worked long hours for little pay in order to take good care of his family. Years of faithful service resulted in a boot out the door.
In order to quench his anger, the comp walked to the nearest watering hole.We do not know what this man drank that day at the pub, nor in what quantities he drank. What we do know is that drinking only served to increase his anger. He went back to the plant and shot George. The medical world could not help George except change his sheets on occasion. In those days, when someone was shot in the groin, that person would just bleed to death. George Brown suffered for two weeks.
As a student of George Brown College, I do not know whether my school is named after George Brown because he was one of the founders of the Globe and Mail, because he fired a typesetter, or because he fell victim to a drunk's bad aim.
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