Arts & Letters Award Recipient for 2026

Graydon Carter, C.M.

Writer and Editor

Graydon Carter is the founder and former editor of AIR MAIL. Previously, he was a staff writer for both Time and Life magazines. He co-created and co-edited the satirical monthly Spy, edited The New York Observer, and for 25 years was the award-winning editor of Vanity Fair. He is also an Emmy and Peabody Award winning producer of more than a dozen documentaries and one hit Broadway play. He is an owner of the Waverly Inn in Greenwich Village. His memoir, When the Going Was Good, published last spring, is a New York Times bestseller.

Past Arts & Letters Award Recipients

Will Arnett, Actor
Margaret Atwood, C.C., LL.D., Novelist & Poet
Aszure Barton, Choreographer
Edward Burtynsky, O.C., Contemporary Photographer
Douglas Coupland, O.C., O.B.C., Author, Visual Artist & Design
Burton Cummings, O.C., O.M., Canadian Rock and Roll Legend
Maureen Forrester, O.C., Classical Singer
Ben Heppner, C.C., Internationally Renowned Dramatic Tenor
Peter C.A.E. Jennings, C.M., Anchor, ABC World News Tonight
Norman Jewison, C.C., O.Ont., Film Director
Karen A. Kain, C.C., O.Ont., Ballet Dancer
Yousuf Karsh, C.C., Photographic Artist
Eugene Levy, C.M., Actor, Television Director, Producer, Musician & Writer
Gordon Lightfoot, C.C., 0.Ont., Singer, Songwriter, Musician & Poet
Rich Little, Celebrity Impersonator & Impressionist
Natalie MacMaster, C.M., Canadian Musician
Peter Mansbridge, O.C., Anchor, The National
Mike Myers, O.C., Actor, Comedian, Screenwriter & Film Producer
Oscar E. Peterson, C.C., Jazz Pianist & Composer
Christopher Plummer, C.C., Theater, Film & Television Actor
Lloyd Robertson, O.C., Chief Anchor, CTV News
Morley Safer, Correspondent, CBS News, 60 Minutes
Paul Shaffer, O.C., Musical Director, CBS Orchestra
Carol Shields, C.C., O.M., F.R.S.C., Pulitzer Award Winning Novelist
Alex Trebek, O.C., Television Personality & Game Show Host