It is impossible to think of the Canadian travel media without Edith Baxter. Virtually every industry has its icons, some so labelled out of deference for the years they have put in, or their position in business, some even self-styled. Edith Baxter certainly put in the years and had the c suite, but she earned her iconic status based on her intelligence, her tenacity, her success, the respect she engendered within the industry – and not just the travel media – but travel and tourism in general. She also had a lively sense of humour.

Mrs B, as she was universally known was also generous and helpful to those in the industry. She certainly provided me with excellent counsel and advice even as she knew I was starting a company that would be a competitor. A major travel company executive recently told me that when he had arrived in Canada back in the seventies as a young man unable to find work, he cold-called Edith Baxter and she advised him on who to call in a company she heard was hiring. He was hired as a reservation’s agent the next day (at $90 a week). He told me that story, he said to let me know, “how helpful Edith was to people who contacted her and she didn’t even know. Not a lot of people are helpful to a cold caller.”

I’d read her magazines and columns for years, but we had never met. Then one day at an event I was seated beside her. She was formidable. I was nervous. I introduced myself and told her where I worked, she asked politely about my background, stuff I’m sure she heard from hundreds of people hundreds of times at hundreds of dinners. However, when I identified my partner, (whom she knew well and liked) I became more interesting, “So you’re the one!” She said with a raised eyebrow and a grin.

When she heard I’d been in the industry since the early seventies and we knew a great many of the same people and the same stories – and the stories behind the stories, well, we became ‘event pals’ often contriving to sit together at events to chat – okay maybe gossip – about the industry then and now. She was inevitably the most interesting person in the room.

The Canadian Travel Media owes Edith Baxter a huge debt. Her publications led the way and provided news and information to the industry from the early days of ITC and ABC charters and holiday packages to the current day.

Edith Baxter was a huge personality; the industry will miss her as will I.

Travel Industry Today extends our condolences to the entire Baxter McClung family, friends and colleagues..