Thomas Robert Edward MacInnes (né McInnes) (October 29, 1867 – February 11, 1951) was a Canadian poet and writer whose writings ranged from "vigorous, slangy recollections of the Yukon gold rush" (Lonesome Bar, 1909) to "a translation of and commentary on Lao-tzu’s philosophy" (The Teaching of the Old Boy, 1927). His narrative verse was highly popular in his lifetime.
Life
He was born Thomas Robert Edward McInnes in Dresden, Ontario. He studied law at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, Ontario, and was called to the bar in 1893.
MacInnes wrote a series of articles on his Chinese experiences, published in 1926 in the Vancouver Morning Star and Vancouver Province, that became the basis of his 1927 book, Oriental Occupation of British Columbia. According to more than one sources, the book proposes that British Columbia adopt apartheid-like policies in dealing with what MacInnes perceived to be an undesirable influx of Chinese immigrants.
Publications
Poetry collections
- A Romance of the Lost. Montreal: Desbarats & Co., 1908.
- Lonesome Bar: A Romance of the Lost, and Other Poems. Montreal: Desbarats & Co., 1909.
- In Amber Lands - 1910.