Dr. Ken Walker, known to readers as W. Gifford-Jones, MD
From England to Harvard
Dr. Ken Walker was born in Croydon, England on February 28, 1924, the son of Walter and Annie Walker. At the age of three, his parents emigrated to Montreal and later moved to Niagara Falls, Ontario. He received premedical training at the University of Toronto and graduated from Harvard Medical School.
He often joked that he was refused admission to the University of Toronto Medical School so was forced to attend Harvard where the admission standards were lower. He remained grateful to be accepted at Harvard Medical School and even more grateful to graduate.
A Career in Surgery
Dr. Walker trained in surgery at the University of Rochester, McGill University, and later at Harvard Medical School. His medical career was remarkably diverse. He worked as a family doctor, served as hotel doctor at the Manoir Richelieu Hotel at Murray Bay, Quebec, and even worked as a ship's surgeon. On his first Atlantic crossing, he had to remove the captain from his command due to illness.
For 25 years, Dr. Walker practiced as a gynecological surgeon in Niagara Falls. He was later appointed to the staff at Toronto Western and Toronto General hospitals, where he continued to make significant contributions to women's health care.
W. Gifford-Jones, MD: The Pseudonym
While his surgical practice was impressive, it was his work as a medical journalist that made Dr. Walker a household name across North America. Writing under the pseudonym W. Gifford-Jones, MD, he penned columns for over 50 years, published by dozens of newspapers in Canada and the United States.
His column stressed the advantages of living a healthy lifestyle. He wrote about controversial issues and never as a fence-sitter. He tackled topics that other medical columnists avoided, always with the goal of educating and empowering his readers.
As occasionally his columns were rejected by editors, he often expressed the hope that, if there is a Valhalla somewhere, he would own all the newspapers.
A Champion of Controversial Causes
Dr. Walker was a strong advocate for women's rights, medical assistance in dying, and common-sense health. One of his most controversial campaigns was to legalize heroin in Canada to ease the pain of terminal cancer patients. At a time when such discussions were taboo, he used his platform to argue for compassionate end-of-life care.
He understood that dying patients deserved relief from unbearable pain, and he wasn't afraid to challenge the medical and political establishment to achieve it.
Author and Educator
Throughout his career, Dr. Walker authored 10 books, sharing his medical knowledge and philosophy with readers. His writing was accessible, practical, and often provocative. He believed that patients had the right to be informed and make their own health decisions.
As a medical journalist, W. Gifford-Jones, MD, wrote ten books and more than 2,500 articles about a range of health topics over his 50+ year career. His last book, published in 2024 at age 100, was "Healthy Retirement Residence Living: What Does the Doctor Say?" The book offers a testament to the potential for living well at 100+ years of age, written by someone who exemplified that possibility.
His foundation provided funds to establish the Gifford-Jones Professorship in Pain Control and Palliative Care at the University of Toronto Medical School, ensuring that future generations of doctors would be trained in compassionate end-of-life care.
Business and Community Leadership
Beyond medicine and journalism, Dr. Walker was a founding member of The Lincoln Trust and Savings Company. He understood that financial security was an important component of health and well-being, and he worked to create institutions that served the community.
"He was not only a great boss to my Mother but he also took an interest in our family and did things for us that positively impacted our lives for years."
A Caring Doctor
Those who knew Dr. Walker as their physician remember him as extraordinarily caring. One patient wrote that without his advice, she and her husband would never have become parents or grandparents. Another recalled that he was not just a doctor but someone who took a genuine interest in families and their lives.
When one former patient thanked him years later for all he had done for their family, his response was simple but profound: "Your family was very important to me."
70 Years of Partnership
Dr. Walker enjoyed 70 years with Susan, his wife and constant companion. Together they built a life, raised four children, and celebrated the arrival of 12 grandchildren. Susan was by his side through the demands of his surgical practice, his writing career, and his advocacy work.
A Legacy Continues Through Diana
Following in her father's footsteps, his daughter Diana MacKay writes under the pen name Diana Gifford-Jones. She has carried forward the Gifford-Jones tradition of accessible, practical health advice. Diana published a book on the natural health philosophy of W. Gifford-Jones, called "No Nonsense Health – Naturally!" ensuring that her father's approach to common-sense health continues to reach new readers and generations.
Born 1924 in England • Died 2025 at age 101
On July 1, 2025, Dr. Ken Walker passed away in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, at the age of 101. He had lived more than a century, spending seven decades of it in service to patients, readers, and the causes he believed in.
His legacy lives on in the Gifford-Jones Professorship, in the countless patients whose lives he touched, in the readers who followed his columns for decades, and in the debates he sparked about compassionate medical care.
Dr. Walker was one in a million—a brilliant surgeon, a fearless writer, a compassionate doctor, and a man who believed that standing up for what's right matters more than staying safe on the fence.
His Legacy
As one tribute noted, Dr. Walker was featured in the book "Niagara's Own Extraordinary Lives" alongside notable figures like Judy LaMarsh and Barbara Frum. What impressed those who met him was his modesty. Despite his accomplishments, he was thrilled to share a spot in the book with so many people who had impressed him.
Another former patient summed up the sentiment of many: "He was kind and caring with a great sense of humour. A wise and wonderful human being."
Dr. Ken Walker lived 101 years. He practiced medicine with compassion, wrote with courage, and advocated for causes that mattered. He refused to sit on the fence when patients needed champions. And he spent his century making the world a better, healthier, more compassionate place.
