Pierre Berton

Pierre Francis Berton, CC, O.Ont, BA, D.Litt (July 12, 1920 – November 30, 2004) was a noted Canadian author of non-fiction, especially Canadiana and Canadian history, and was a well-known television personality and journalist.

An accomplished storyteller, Berton was one of Canada's most prolific and popular authors. He wrote 50 books, including ones on popular culture, Canadian history, critiques of mainstream religion, anthologies, children's books and historical works for youth. He was credited with popularizing Canadian history.

Biography

He was born in Whitehorse, Yukon, and raised in the Yukon, where his parents had moved for the 1898 Klondike Gold Rush. He worked in Klondike mining camps during his years as a history major at the University of British Columbia, where he also worked on the student paper "The Ubyssey." He spent his early newspaper career in Vancouver, where at 21 he was the youngest city editor on any Canadian daily, replacing editorial staff that had been called up during the Second World War.

Berton himself was conscripted into the Canadian Army under the National Resources Mobilization Act in 1942 and attended basic training in British Columbia, nominally as a reinforcement soldier intended for The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada. He elected to "go Active" (the euphemism for volunteering for overseas service) and his aptitude was such that he was appointed Lance Corporal and attended NCO school, and became a basic training instructor in the rank of corporal. Due to a background in university COTC and inspired by other citizen-soldiers who had been commissioned, he sought training as an officer.

Berton spent the next several years attending a variety of military courses, becoming, in his words, the most highly trained officer in the military. He was warned for overseas duty many times, and was granted embarkation leave many times, each time finding his overseas draft being cancelled. A coveted trainee slot with the Canadian Intelligence Corps saw Berton, now a Captain, trained to act as an Intelligence Officer (IO), and after a stint as an instructor at the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario, he finally went overseas in March 1945. In the UK, he was told that he would have to requalify as an IO because the syllabus in the UK was different from that in the intelligence school in Canada. By the time Berton had requalified, the war in Europe had ended. He volunteered for the Canadian Army Pacific Force (CAPF), granted a final "embarkation leave", and found himself no closer to combat employment by the time the Japanese surrendered in September 1945.

He moved to Toronto in 1947, and at the age of 31 was named managing editor of Maclean's. In 1957 he became a key member of the CBC's public affairs flagship program, Close-Up, and a permanent panelist on the popular television show Front Page Challenge. He joined the Toronto Star as associate editor and columnist in 1958, leaving in 1962 to commence The Pierre Berton Show, which ran until 1973. Thereafter he appeared as host and writer on My Country, The Great Debate, Heritage Theatre, The Secret of My Success and The National Dream.

He served as the Chancellor of Yukon College and, along with numerous honorary degrees, received over 30 literary awards such as the Governor-General's Award for Creative Non-Fiction (three times), the Stephen Leacock Medal of Humour, and the Gabrielle Léger National Heritage Award.

He is a member of Canada's Walk of Fame, having been inducted in 1998. In The Greatest Canadian project, he was voted #31 in the list of great Canadians.

In 2004, Berton published his 50th book, Prisoners of the North, after which he announced in an interview with CanWest News Service that he was retiring from writing.

On October 17, 2004 the CAD $12.6 million Pierre Berton Resource Library, named in his honour, was opened in Vaughan, Ontario. He had lived in nearby Kleinburg, Ontario, for about fifty years.

Berton raised eyebrows in October 2004 by discussing his forty years of recreational use of marijuana on two CBC Television programs, >play and Rick Mercer Report where he gave tips on how to roll a joint.

Berton died at Sunnybrook hospital in Toronto, reportedly of heart failure, at the age of 84 on November 30, 2004.

His childhood home in Dawson City, now called Berton House, is a writers' retreat. Established writers apply for three-month long subsidized residencies there; while in residence, they give a public reading in each of Dawson City and Whitehorse. Many books have been created during the tenancy of writers in that house. The Berton House Retreat is sponsored by the Canada Council for the Arts, Random House Canada Limited, and Klondike Visitors Association; the administrator is Elsa Franklin.

Works

Television

Pierre Berton, though known most widely for his numerous books, was also an important television presence from the earliest days of Canadian television. For more than 30 years he was a constant presence, and by the 1970s was perhaps the most well known and highly popular television personality.

His shows included:

• 1957-95 Front Page Challenge (weekly panelist)
• 1957-63 Close-Up (host)
• 1972-73 The Pierre Berton Show (host)
• 1974 The National Dream (writer/narrator) series in 8 parts
• 1976 Greenfell
• 1979 The Dionne Quintuplets (writer)
• 1984-87 Heritage Theatre (story editor/host)
• 1985 Spirit of Batoche
• 1988 The Secret of My Success (writer/interviewer)

Writings

Berton was both a journalist and an historian, a combination that endeared him to his fellow countrymen as he brought Canadian history to life through his writings. His 47 books include:

• For the Love of History, Toronto, Anchor Canada, 2005, ISBN 9780385660891

Berton wrote the forward to this book which features the contributions of writers who have won recognition as some of Canada's best known historians and writers.

• Prisoners of the North, Toronto, Anchor Canada, 2005, ISBN 9780385660471

The lives of five inspiring and controversial characters are chronicled in these tales of courage, fortitude, and adventure in Canada’s harsh north.

• The Joy of Writing; A Guide for Writers Disguised as a Literary Memoir, Toronto, Anchor Canada, 2003, ISBN 9780385659987

A witty and practical guide for writers, including interviews with nearly 30 of Canada's best known authors.

• Cats I Have Known and Loved, Toronto, Doubleday Canada, 2002, ISBN 9780385659383

A collection of lively cat tales!

• Marching as to War, Toronto, Doubleday Canada, 2001, ISBN 0385257252

“I have called this period Canada’s Turbulent Years – turbulent not only because of the battles we fought on the African veldt, the ravaged meadows of Flanders, the forbidding spine of Italy, and the conical hills of Korea, but turbulent in other ways. These were Canada’s formative years, when she resembled an adolescent, grappling with the problems of puberty, often at odds with her parents, craving to be treated as an adult, hungry for the acclaim of her peers, and wary of the dominating presence of a more sophisticated neighbour.” – From the Introduction

• My Country, Toronto, Anchor Canada, 2002, ISBN 9780385659284

Features true stories of mystery, romance, tragedy and heroism, from the piracy of Bill Johnston, scourge of the St. Lawrence, to the weird saga of Brother XII and his mystic cult on Vancouver Island.

• Niagara: a History of the Falls, Toronto, Anchor Canada, ISBN 9780385659307

Details the adventures of those drawn to the Falls; heroes and villains, eccentrics and daredevils, scientists, and power brokers, visionaries and industrialists and the lives they've created.

• The Promised Land, Toronto, Anchor Canada, 2002, ISBN 9780385659291

Berton tells with passion the stories of Canada's settlers — a million people who filled a thousand miles of prairie in a single generation.

• The Secret World of Og, Toronto, McClelland and Stewart, 1961, ISBN 9780385659116

A children's book based on the adventures of five children as they discover and explore a vast,mysterious world of caverns and rivers hidden beneath a trapdoor in the floor of their clubhouse.

• The Arctic Grail, Toronto, McClelland and Stewart, 1988, ISBN 0385658451

Bertons' best-selling book details the North's great quests: the search for the Passage linking the Atlantic and the Pacific, and the international race to reach the North Pole. Includes tales of Edward Parry, John Franklin, Robert Peary and Roald Amundsen. He also credits the Inuit, whose tracking and hunting skills saved the lives of the adventurers and their men countless times.

• The Great Depression, Toronto, McClelland and Stewart, 1990, ISBN 0771012705

In this best-seller, Berton retells the decade in Canada's history which began with the stock market crash of 1929 and ended with the Second World War. A child of the era, he writes passionately of people starving in the midst of plenty.

• Klondike: The Last Great Gold Rush, Toronto, Anchor Canada, 2001, 1972, ISBN 0385658443

Winner of the Governor General's award for non-fiction, Klondike is authentic history and considered a must-read for anyone interested in the Canadian frontier.

• Vimy, Toronto, McClelland and Stewart, 1986, ISBN 0771013396

Recounts the 1917 Battle of Vimy Ridge. Berton brings to life the moment of tragedy and greatness that marked Canada's emergence as a nation.

• Flames Across the Border: 1813-1814, Toronto, McClelland and Stewart, 1981, ISBN 0316092177

The War of 1812 is told in vivid prose as the heroes and heroines, as well as the villians and cowards, of this 'bloody and senseless' conflict are brought to life.

• The Invasion of Canada: 1812-1813, Toronto, McClelland and Stewart, 1980, ISBN 0316092169

A lively tale of the first year of war on the U.S.-Canadian border. "Berton believes that if there had been no war, most of Ontario would probably be American today; and if the war had been lost by the British, all of Canada would now be part of the United States. But the War of 1812, or more properly the myth of the war, served to give the new settlers a sense of community and set them on a different course from that of their neighbours."

• The Last Spike, Toronto, McClelland and Stewart, 1971, ISBN 0771013272

The adventures of the men who, between 1881 and 1885, helped forge Canada into one nation through the building of the 2,000–mile Canadian Pacific Railway.

• The National Dream:The Great Railway, 1871-1881, Toronto, McClelland and Stewart, 1974, ISBN 0771013329

Chronicles the fight for, or against, the great Canadian Railway. Berton used diaries, letters, unpublished manuscripts, public documents and newspapers to reconstruct this incredible decade.

• Welcome To The 21st Century: More Absurdities From Our Time, Toronto, Doubleday Canada, 2000, ISBN 9780385258180

A humorous look back at the 20th century, with equally humorous visions of the upcoming century.

• Worth Repeating:A Literary Resurrection, Toronto, Doubleday Canada, 1999, ISBN 9780385257374

Written over a period of fifty years; a compilation of some of Berton's favorite essays, articles, bits of history, chapters from out-of-print books, an occasional verse, and a stage sketch or two.

• 1967: The Last Good Year, Toronto, Doubleday Canada, 1997, ISBN 0385256620

Canada's centennial year, described by Berton himself: "It was a golden year, and so it seems in retrospect — a year in which we let off steam like schoolboys whooping and hollering at term's end...By any number of measurements we are healthier and wealthier than in 1967. If we are better off today, then why all the hand wringing?"

• My Times: Living With History 1917-1995, Toronto, Doubleday Canada, 1995, ISBN 0385255284

A record of Berton's journalistic history and the stories behind the stories.

• The comfortable pew; a critical look at Christianity and the religious establishment in the new age, Philadelphia, Lippincott, 1965

Berton's most controversial work, this book caused a commotion when it was released in 1965. Among other things, Berton accused church leaders of "sitting on the fence" and thereby supporting the use of atomic weapons in Japan at the end of World War II.

• The Smug Minority, Toronto, McClelland and Stewart, 1968

Berton challenges the concepts of the status quo and society in general as he questions the "normalcy" of life in the twentieth century regarding work, happiness, security and freedom.

---

• Berton, Pierre, The Mysterious North: Encounters with the Canadian Frontier,1947-1954, Toronto, McClelland and Stewart, 1956
• Berton, Pierre, The Cool, Crazy, Committed World of the Sixties, Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1966, OCLC 1337747
• Berton, Pierre, The Dionne Years: A Thirties Melodrama , Toronto, McClelland and Stewart, 1977
• Berton, Pierre, Why We Act Like Canadians; A personal exploration of our national character, Toronto, McClelland and Stewart, 1982, ISBN 0771013647 - ISBN 9780771013645
• Berton, Pierre, The Klondike Quest, Toronto, McClelland and Stewart, 1983
• Berton, Pierre, The Battle of Lake Erie, Toronto, McClelland and Stewart, 1994, ISBN 0771014244
• Berton, Pierre, Attack on Montreal, Toronto, McClelland and Stewart, 1995, ISBN 0771014198
• Berton, Pierre, Farewell to the Twentieth Century, Toronto, Doubleday Canada, 1996, ISBN 0385255772

---

• The Big Sell: An Introduction to the Black Arts of Door-to-Door Salesmanship s Other Techniques. McClelland & Stewart, 1963.
• Canada from Sea to Sea. Kings Printer, 1958.
• Drifting Home. McClelland & Stewart, 1973.
• Hollywood's Canada: The Americanization of Our National Image. McClelland & Stewart, 1975.
• Fast,fast,fast relief. McClelland & Stewart, 1962.
• Just Add Water and Stir. McClelland & Stewart, 1959.
• My Country: The Remarkable Past. McClelland & Stewart, 1976.
• The New City: A Prejudiced View of Toronto. MacMillan, 1961.
• The Promised Land: Settling the West 1896-1914. McClelland & Stewart, 1984.
• The Royal Family: The Story of the British Monarchy from Victoria to Elizabeth. McClelland & Stewart, 1954.
• Starting Out. McClelland & Stewart, 1987.

Awards

• Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal 2002
• Order of Canada, Companion, 1986.
• Canadian Booksellers Award, 1982.
• Canadian Authors Association Literary Award for non-fiction, 1981
• Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal 1977
• Nellie Award, best public affairs broadcaster in radio, 1978.
• Governor General's Awards for: The Last Spike, 1972; Klondike, 1958; The Mysterious North, 1956.
• Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour, 1959.

External links

• Berton, Pierre, The Canadian Encyclopedia, Accessed February 14, 2007
• November 30, 2004, Pierre Berton: icon and iconoclast, Canadian broadcasting corporation, Accessed February 14, 2007
• Pierre Berton, Order of Canada, Accessed February 14, 2007
• Stories relating to the Berton House Writers Retreat, The Berton House Story, Accessed February 14, 2007
• Pierre Berton Award, Canada's National History Society, Accessed February 14, 2007
• Pierre Berton, Pierre Berton Homepage. Retrieved May 8, 2007.

Notes

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

• Pierre Berton  ^history

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

• History of "Pierre Berton"

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.