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Category:Jay Underwood
Jay Underwood
- See also: Jay Underwood author
- See also: Jay Underwood on the HSWDPI
April 16, 1958 - January 8, 2014
Railfan, newspaper editor, publisher, journalist, author and amateur historian.
Jay was the president of the Nova Scotia Railway Historical Society from 2003 to 2013.
Author Biography from Railfare - DC Books
Jay Underwood lives in Elmsdale, Nova Scotia, and has had a life-long connection with the military and the railways. Born in Changi, Singapore in 1958, son of a Royal Air Force non-commissioned officer, he earned his diploma in journalism from Holland College of Applied Arts and Technology in Charlottetown, PEI. He was city editor of the Truro, NS, Daily News, and served for several years as the information officer for 1st battalion, the Nova Scotia Highlanders (North), Canada’s largest militia infantry battalion.
He joined the Halifax Daily News as senior copy editor and a member of the editorial board. His books include Ketchum’s Folly, a history of the Chignecto Ship Railway in Cumberland County (Lancelot Press 1995), Full Steam Ahead, (Lancelot Press, 1996), a biography of Nova Scotia born Alexander Mitchell, the designer of the 2-8-0 Consolidation type steam locomotive that went on to become one of the leading designs of the steam era.
Underwood is currently president of the Nova Scotia Railway Heritage Society, and is a contributor to Canadian Rail, the journal of the Canadian Railroad Historical Association. His article “Fruit of a Poisoned Tree,” an examination of the adoption of standard gauge on Canadian railways, won the association’s award for best article in 2002. [1]
Author Biography from Pennydreadful Publishing
JAY UNDERWOOD: Born in Singapore in 1958, and of British origin, Underwood came to Nova Scotia with his family in 1973 at the age of fifteen, and graduated from East Pictou Rural High School in 1975. He attended St. Francis Xavier University, and earned his diploma in journalism from Holland College of Applied Arts and Technology in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island in 1979. He worked on a number of regional newspapers, including the Charlottetown Guardian-Patriot, the New Glasgow Evening News, the Truro Daily News, the Timmins (Ontario) Daily Press; and as editor and publisher of both the Springhill-Parrsboro Record and the Enfield Weekly Press before joining the Halifax Daily News as a senior copy editor and editorial writer.
He was briefly the information officer for the 1st Bn. The Nova Scotia Highlanders (North), Canada's largest reserve infantry regiment, and has served on a number of boards for local government and volunteer organizations.
Disabled from his newspaper career by complications of diabetes, that include loss of vision in both eyes, Underwood's first book Ketchum's Folly, was an history of the fabled Chignecto Ship Railway, published by Lancelot Press in 1995. The book was on the Nova Scotia best-seller list for six months. His second work, Full Steam Ahead (Lancelot Press), was a biography of Nova Scotia-born locomotive designer Alexander Mitchell.
In 2005 Built for War, the military history of Canada's Intercolonial Railway was published by Railfare*DC Books of Montreal, followed in 2007 by From Folly to Fortune, the biography of James Richardson Forman, chief engineer of the Nova Scotia Railway, and in 2009 by Ghost Tracks, ten stories of supernatural events on Nova Scotia's Railways.
Focusing on Nova Scotia railway history, which has never been fully told, Underwood has several works in progress, including Fleming's Army (with Railfare*DC Books), the biographies of the more-than ninety civil engineers who built the Intercolonial Railway, and a three-volume series for Pennydreadful Publishing featuring stories about the fascinating people who worked on the province's railways.
In 2009 he assisted ninety-seven-year-old Dr. Nina Murray with Ninachka: The making of an Englishwoman?, her biography of life as a member of the Russian nobility who fled the revolution in 1920, and settled in England to a distinguished career as an eye surgeon.
He also has a science fiction novel in progress, begun long before he lost his eyesight. He is a frequent contributor to Canadian Rail, the journal of The Canadian Railroad Historical Association, of which he is a member.
Confederation Conspiracy is his first work for Pennydreadful Publishing.
He lives in Elmsdale, Nova Scotia with his wife Kathy and youngest son Derek, a freight conductor with Canadian National Railways. His oldest son Andrew is a strategic weather specialist with the Canadian Air Force.
Obituary from The Chronicle-Herald[2]
UNDERWOOD, Julian Paul 'Jay'
Age 55, of Elmsdale, died at his home on January 8, 2014. Born in Royal Air Force Hospital, Changi, Singapore, April 16, 1958, he was the younger son of Peter and Joan (Joels) Underwood of New Glasgow. Jay was educated in Singapore, England and Canada, and graduated from East Pictou Rural High School with honours at the age of 17 in 1975. He attended St. Francis Xavier University, and received his diploma in journalism from Holland College, Charlotte¬town, P.E.I., in 1979. He later received additional certificates in journalism from the University of Western Ontario (law) and Ryerson Polytechnic (design). Jay began his career in journalism as night shift proof reader/obituary writer at the Thomson Newspapers Guardian-Patriot in Charlottetown, before becoming a reporter/photographer with the New Glasgow Evening News. He met his wife, Kathy Patriquin when he was transferred to the Truro Daily News in 1980. While in Truro, he served as information officer for 1st Battalion, The Nova Scotia Highlanders (North). Jay and Kathy moved to Timmins, Ont., in 1982, where he was employed as city editor of the Daily Press. They later returned to Nova Scotia, where he became editor and publisher of the Springhill-Parrsboro Record. The newspaper won several Atlantic Community Newspaper Association (ACNA) awards during his tenure. In 1987 Jay moved to Elmsdale to take control of the Enfield Weekly Press. Jay was hired by the Halifax Daily News in 1990 as senior copy editor, and was one of the first to work on the Sunday edition of that newspaper. He was a member of the newspaper’s editorial board and wrote many editorials and op-ed pieces. He was a member of the class action lawsuit by employees of Southam Newspapers to recover pensions and benefits owed to them. Severely disabled by diabetes in 1992, Jay continued his writing by publishing 14 books on Nova Scotia railway history. He established Pennydreadful Publishing in 2010, and helped four other writers publish their work. He was a frequent contributor to the Canadian Railroad Historical Association’s journal Canadian Rail, and served as president of the Nova Scotia Railway Heritage Society since 2003. Jay was appoint¬ed as a member-at-large on the board of trustees of the Public Ar¬chives of Nova Scotia in 2011. He was a long-serving judge of the Colchester- East Hants Regional Library’s Ada Mingo Teen Writing Awards, and acted as facilitator of the library ’s independent writers’ round-table. Jay was a staunch supporter of the community value of the Elmsdale branch of the library. Predeceased by his father in 2012, Jay is survived by his wife, Kathy; sons, Andrew (Nelia) in Comox, B.C.; Derek (Andrea) in Enfield; by his mother in New Glasgow; sisters, Jane (Vida), Gay’s River; Sara (Craig), Stratford, P.E.I.; brother, Simon, Sylvester; his nephew, Jeremy Livingston (Rebecca); nieces, Amy Dewtie (Jeff), Jessica Livingston-Thomas (Leighton), Helen Livingston; his father-in-law and mother-in-law, Charles and Beverly Patriquin; sis¬ter- in-law, Kelly Steeves (Roy); their sons, Johnathon and Justin; their grandson, Jackson; and Kathy’s grandmother, Florence Palmer Har¬nish of Wentworth. Celebration of Jay’s life will be held in Ettinger Fu¬neral Home, 2812 Highway 2, Shu¬benacadie, on Saturday, January 18, at 2 p.m. Jay ’s body was cremated and his remains shall be interred at a later date in Presbyterian Cemetery at Springville, Pictou Co., his first home in Canada. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Nova Scotia Railway Heritage Society, Canadian Diabetes Association or to a charity of your choice at any branch of the Bank of Montreal. Condolences, words of comfort and remembrances of Jay may be shared with the family at: www. ettingerfuneralhome. com
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Jay Underwood
References & Footnotes
- ↑ Railfare - DC Books, "Built for War: Author Biography." Accessed January 11, 2014. http://www.railfare.net/builtforwar.html.
- ↑ "Obituary, UNDERWOOD, Julian Paul "Jay"." The Chronicle-Herald, , sec. Obituaries, January 14, 2014. http://thechronicleherald.ca/obituaries/1179434-underwood-julian-paul-jay (accessed January 14, 2014).
