An multiple award-winning Vancouver Sun columnist on religion and ethics, Doug Todd received his journalism degree in 1980. In 1993 he received the first of his two Templeton Reporter of the Year Awards as the best religion writer for any secular newspaper or magazine in North America. In 2006, Todd became the first recipient of the Jack and Doris Shadbolt fellowship in the humanities at Simon Fraser University "to recognize and support leaders in the humanities who are not necessarily part of the academy." From the fellowship he organized a conference to explore the spirit of the Pacific Northwest, resulting in an anthology with 15 contributors, Cascadia: The Elusive Utopia.

Todd has said, "Some people rebel in adolescence by turning their backs on religion. Instead, I turned my back on my family's atheism, which I found lacking in hope. I found I was increasingly drawn to the hopefulness of some religious people."

Review of the author's work by BC Studies:
Cascadia: The Elusive Utopia - Exploring the Spirit of the Pacific Northwest

BOOKS:

The Soul-Searcher's Guide to the Galaxy (Self-Counsel Press, 1994)
Brave Souls: Writers and Artists Wrestle With God, Love, Death and the Things that Matter (General Distribution Services, 1996)
Cascadia: The Elusive Utopia (Ronsdale, 2008). Editor

PHOTO: Laura Sawchuk

[BCBW 2008] "Religion"