Born in Ottawa ON, this widely-read journalist and columnist began his newspaper career at the age of seventeen with The Globe and Mail (Toronto).

From 1949 to 1953, Fulford worked as a reporter. He then turned to editing magazines, the best-known of which is Maclean's. In 1958, he joined the staff of The Toronto Star. During his decade with that newspaper, he became a voice in Canada of intelligent liberal thought and influential art and cultural criticism.

In 1968, Fulford became editor of Saturday Night magazine, Canada's longest-running magazine. After twenty years, Fulford resigned as editor when capitalist Conrad Black acquired ownership of Saturday Night. In 1992, he joined The Globe and Mail as a culture columnist, but switched to its new rival, The National Post in 1999.

The recipient of many honours and awards, Fulford remains a voice of cultural conscience in Canada, though decidedly more conservative and critical of popular culture than in the earlier stages of his career. His essays are models of the form (see example).