Draft:Graham Cotter

Reverend Canon Dr. Charles Graham Cotter (born 12 January 1925), is a Canadian academic, social activist, author, and Anglican priest. Cotter is known for his contributions to the Anglican Church of Canada as well as for his social service activism in Toronto in the 1960s and 70s.

Social Service and Activism
Beginning in 1958, Graham Cotter served as Executive Secretary of the Toronto Diocesan Council for Social Service. He held the position for seven years. During this period, he was pivotally involved in the foundation of the Toronto Distress Centre—a service agency committed to providing support for people in crisis, namely suicide prevention. It was reported that Cotter became “impressed with the amount of despair and helplessness he found among many of the people his Centre tried to serve.” He identified the need for a local telephone crisis intervention service and travelled to England to meet the founder of the Samaritans (charity), a British suicide helpline. This led to the first iteration of the Toronto Distress Centre, a single branch that was formed in 1966. The organization has since expanded to become the Distress Centres of Greater Toronto.

Contributions to the Anglican Church of Canada
In 2014, Cotter was bestowed with a medal, honouring him as a “Companion of the Worship Arts.” The medal was awarded as recognition for his lifetime of contribution towards worship and the arts within the Anglican Church of Canada.

Writing and Journalism
Graham Cotter is the author of multiple books, articles, memoirs, plays, and poems. In the 1970s, Cotter was a regular contributor to the Toronto Star with his column, "Youth Clinic," in which young readers would write in for advice on emotional and social issues. The column, which also featured a physician, a psychologist, and a social worker, was controversial at the time, with many readers taking offence to a priest advising youth on topics of pre-marital sex. Cotter edited excerpts from the column into a book titled Youth Hotline, which was published in 1979.

Published Works

 * Youth Hotline: Answers to Questions Kids are Afraid to Ask (Musson Book Co., 1979) ISBN 0773710329
 * Good News for Modern Marriage (Anglican Book Centre, 1979)
 * Marrying in the Church (Anglican Book Centre, 1983) ISBN 9780919891067
 * The Mysteries at St. Cuthbert's (Childe Thursday, 1985) ISBN 9780920459195
 * Entitled to One Mistake (1996)
 * The Packet Papers of the Quantum Christ (1997) ISBN 9780968152515
 * The Cup of Blessing: Poetry in Worship through the Liturgical Imagination (1998) ISBN 096815252X
 * And Christ My Bark Will Use: A Memoir of Parkdale (1999) ISBN 0968152538
 * Hymns and Songs for Edgar (2008) ISBN 9780968152553
 * Bean – The History of a Man and his Family in Jamaica and the World. Volume One. 1864-1919 (Gifford, 2012) ISBN 0978024559
 * Jamaica Paintings and Poems (Hidden Book Press, 2019) ISBN 9781927725740
 * Drumlin Fever (Baccalieu Books, 2020) ISBN 9780991913923
 * The Topher (Baccalieu Books, 2022) ISBN 9780991913930