“It is with great sadness that we announce the peaceful passing of Bruce Westwood, WCA’s founder, on February 28, 2025.
After tremendous, varied success as a venture capitalist, Bruce decided in the early 1990s to pursue his passion for books and ideas. With well-honed negotiating skills and a fervent belief in the power of words, he paired with the legendary American agent Sterling Lord (meeting through a shared, enduring love of tennis) to create Sterling Lord Canada.
He experienced swift success with client William Lishman, whose innovative ultralight flights were famously documented in a bestselling book (Father Goose) and a successful film (Fly Away Home) which reinforced that he’d made the right career move. Always ambitious, Bruce started thinking about expansion and Westwood Creative Artists was created in 1995 after the acquisition of McKnight Gosewich Associates and the Lucinda Vardey Agency.
Though Bruce had no traditional publishing experience, he had been Chair of the Harbourfront Reading Series, (precursor to the Toronto International Festival of Authors). Knowing that relationships were key to success, his calendar filled with long lively editorial lunches, where his preference was to sit beside his date, never across. (His beloved Portuguese water dog would be napping at the office, patiently waiting his return.) Legend has it that the broad strokes of a Timothy Findley deal were scrawled on a napkin at one of those meetings, and then brought back to the office to be translated into more concrete terms. He developed close friendships with many publishing professionals and authors, including Eric Hill, Roy MacGregor and Rohinton Mistry.
Bruce was tenacious and creative in his deal-making, and loved going to New York or Frankfurt to persuasively champion just one book. There were major international successes, countless bestsellers, Giller Prize winners, Booker Prize nominees and more, but he was most proud of the careers he nurtured, whether of clients or colleagues. Bruce’s foundational belief was to build from within, and he was so pleased that the new owners of the agency came up through its ranks.
If you’d like to honor Bruce’s memory and legacy, we can think of no more appropriate way than to raise a glass of rosé and spread the word about a favourite Canadian book.