Ray Wiseman, (College ’62), 75, a writer, editor, and speaker of Fergus, Ontario, will receive the twenty-first annual Leslie K. Tarr Award for outstanding career achievement on Wednesday, June 17, during The Word Guild Awards Gala at the World Vision headquarters in Mississauga, Ontario.

Named in honour of its first recipient, the late Leslie K. Tarr, a Toronto journalist, editor, and teacher, the Tarr Award celebrates a major career contribution to Christian writing and publishing in Canada. Previous recipients include author Rudy Wiebe and poet Margaret Avison, both two-time Governor General's Literary Award winners, and Janette Oke, whose inspirational novels have sold more than 28 million copies.

Wiseman, who writes a weekly column for The Wellington Advertiser, has written a novel, seven non-fiction books, ten technical manuals, and hundreds of newspaper columns. For 11 years, he was a freelance columnist for the Guelph Mercury.

He runs a manuscript-critiquing business with his wife of 53 years, Anna. He told the Word Guild that he finds "tremendous satisfaction in being able to help writers improve their work and get published." Several of the books he has critiqued have won awards, including Alan Reynolds' work on Christian apologetics, A Troubled Faith.

He says he discovered his writing skills while at Briercrest College and Seminary in Saskatchewan. In 1982, Rogers Engineering asked him to take charge of technical writing and publications. This led to work with Partners International, for whom he edited a magazine and wrote several biographies of world Christian leaders. One is the best-selling Disciples of Joy, the story of Anand Chaudhari's spiritual journey from Brahmin priest to minister of Christ.

Wiseman has visited more than 30 countries and has served as a missionary overseas and a pastor in Canada.