The late Canadian Black activist, scientist and politician Howard McCurdy in his own words

"Wow, he packed a lot into those 85 years."

George Elliott Clarke worked for Howard McCurdyduring his time as an MP representing the Windsor, Ont.,area.

Clarke was McCurdy's constituencyand media relations liaison.

Now, he's an English professor at the University of Toronto, and was asked by McCurdy to edit his autobiography before his death in 2018.

"He really broke all the stereotypes about Black people, Black Canadians," said Clarke.

"He's a guy with a microscope, as much as he is a guy who is able to handle the microphone."

WATCH | Remembering Howard McCurdy:

Remembering Howard McCurdy

7 years ago

Duration 1:51

Here's a look at the life of Howard McCurdy.

McCurdywas the second Black member of Parliament in Canada the first for the New Democratic Party and the first tenured Black professor in Canadian history. He served two terms as an MP and two as a city councillor in Windsor.

He was also a biology professor and human rights activist who was heavily involved in the civil rights movement in Essex County in the 1950s and 1960s.

"When he asked me in 2017 to edit his autobiography, I said yes, but I didn't get started on it until 2020, all because of the pandemic."

Clarke called McCurdy a role model, inspiration and mentor and said it was an honour to help tell his life story.

"That was great because from the very first paragraph he reminded me he could write. He was a good writer, but my job in working with that material was to make his formal style more informal, because I wanted the book to welcome as many readers as possible."

Black Activist, Black Scientist, Black Icon: The Autobiography of Dr. Howard D. McCurdy was unveiled during a Thursday book signing in Amherstburg, Ont. Similar book launches are being held at the University of Windsor later in February and other stops including Halifax and Toronto.

'I just miss my dad'

While most often people talk about his long list of accomplishments and accolades as a politician, activist and scientist, Leslie McCurdy said she appreciates those sentiments but "I just miss my dad."

Howard McCurdy passed away Feb. 20, 2018, at age 85.

She said he was an "incredible human being" and it was nice to see a strong turnout at the book launch.

"I'm trying to follow in his footstepsand I have a pair of his shoes at home, but it's two of my feet in one of his shoes," said McCurdy.

"So, there's a lot of work to do, but it's really nice that people come out to honour him in that way.I appreciate that."

According to McCurdy, carrying on her dad's legacy can be a "little bit daunting" and a "heck of a responsibility," but it's part of her family and something she was raised to do.

"For me, especially as a first born, he had particularly high expectations and he was pretty demanding. But at the same time, he would do a lot of work to invest in our success."

'He was a great orator'

When Brenda Wright McCurdy remembers her late husband,oftentimes she thinks about his knack for public speaking and how many of his speeches weren't prepared and extemporaneously delivered.

"He was a great orator," she told CBC News.

"I would go to meetings with him, and we were sitting at the head table, and he'd lean into me and said, 'I'm up next. But I don't know what I'm going to say.' And he would just talk for about 15 minutes with no notes. And when he was done, the audience was on their feet applauding. He had that ability to speak to people off the top of his head and do it with so much ease."

Wright McCurdy believed it was that ability to speak that enabled him to connect with the people he was representing in his political life and through his activism.

"He wanted to make sure that he was there for people, that they could talk to him just like a regular person. But he was there to serve them in Parliament."

She also thought his love for books helped with his public speaking and how happy he'd be to see his life story, in his own words, now in print.

"He was a ferocious reader. When he was home, he read all the time. He would read at least two books a week. I think that fuelled his outlook and his ability to address the main issues, because he was always reading something."

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of.You can read more stories here.