John Sewell, (Order of Canada), (born Dec. 8, 1940) is a political activist and writer on municipal affairs; he was the mayor of Toronto, Canada from 1978 to 1980. Raised in the Beaches neighborhood, in Toronto, Sewell attended Malvern Collegiate Institute and the University of Toronto from which he graduated with an English Literature degree in 1961. He earned a law degree from the University of Toronto Law School in 1964 and was called to the bar in 1966. In 2005, Sewell was made a member of the Order of Canada. Sewell lives with his wife, Liz Rykert in Toronto.