William C. Heine

William C. Heine (1919–1991) was a Canadian writer, best known for The Last Canadian, a science fiction novel filmed as The Patriot starring Steven Seagal. Heine was also editor-in-chief of the London Free Press, London, Ontario, Canada. He established the William C. Heine Fellowship for International Media Studies at the University of Western Ontario.

Biography

William C. Heine left New Brunswick in 1939 to spend six years in the Canadian Army and RCAF. He graduated from the University of Western Ontario in 1949, Joined the London Free Press as a reporter, spent a decade on the paper's business side, and for seventeen years was editor-in-chief. Active in international journalist organizations, he travelled widely in North America, including the Arctic, and in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. He is the author of two novels and several non-fiction books.

In the summer of 1968, Heine became chair of the Division of Communications of the United Church of Canada in an attempt to restore the profitability of the Ryerson Press or "dispose of its assets." In 1970, the Ryerson Press was sold to McGraw-Hill Canada. The company is known in Canada as McGraw-Hill Ryerson.