Beloved Canadian Author Pierre Berton Dies

[Takara_Soong 4]

From CBC.ca

Author Pierre Berton dies

Last Updated Tue, 30 Nov 2004 22:36:12 EST

 

 

TORONTO - Pierre Berton, the prolific author and popular television personality, died Tuesday at Sunnybrook hospital in Toronto. He was 84.

 

Berton, who wrote 50 books, was known for compelling, readable histories like 1970's The National Dream and 1971's The Last Spike.

 

He died Tuesday afternoon from heart failure.

 

"He was a very strong guy and he fought like hell, but he died peacefully with his family around him," his eldest son, Peter, said in a statement.

 

" I can't think of anyone else who lead a better life, a more exciting life, a more fufilled life. He was great."

 

During his long career, Berton worked as a newspaper columnist, the editor of Maclean's magazine and a broadcaster.

 

He was instantly recognizable by his anachronistic bow-tie and bushy white sideburns, and he had a penchant for wearing opera cloaks.

 

Berton was more than prolific – at the peak of his writing powers, he would churn out as much as 15,000 words a day, including a 1,200-word daily column for the Toronto Star newspaper.

 

Among the many accolades he earned are three Governor General's Literary Awards for non-fiction and two National Newspaper Awards. He was given 12 honourary degrees, and was also made a Companion of the Order of Canada.

 

Berton was born July 12, 1920 in Dawson City, Yukon.

 

After being educated at the University of British Columbia, he embarked on a career as a newspaper reporter, much to the chagrin of his family.

 

In 1947, following four years of service in the military, he moved to Toronto, where he rose to become the managing editor of Maclean's at the age of 31.

 

In 1957, he joined the CBC public-affairs program Close-Up and also became a permanent panellist on Front Page Challenge.

 

He left Maclean's in 1962 to start his own program, The Pierre Berton Show, which ran until 1973. He also worked on a number of other programs.

 

His other well-known books include 1956's The Mysterious North, 1958's Klondike and 1992's Niagara.

 

This year saw the publication of his 50th and final title, Prisoners of the North.

 

June Callwood, the author and activist, credited Berton with creating a hunger for Canadian histories that hadn't previously existed.

 

Callwood had seen him, suffering from heart problems, when he returned from a recent trip to Cuba: "He said 'I'll never write again.'" Within a few weeks, Berton had returned to writing.

 

Author Mel Hurtig, who was close friends with Berton for 45 years, lauded Berton for his passion for Canada.

 

"He was such a nice guy: good sense of humour, proud, and he hated what he called anti-Canadians – people who put Canadians down and people who weren't proud of their country. I loved him for that."

 

In recent years, Berton had fun with his grandfatherly image.

 

One of his most recent public appearances came in the same month, when he was the guest of honour at the dedication of the library that bears his name in Woodbridge, Ont.

 

Berton, who lived in nearby Kleinburg, called the facility "a cool building."

 

It includes an archive that houses of all of his works, with some rare volumes donated by Berton himself.

 

"I never expected my name to be associated with a library except in the overdue parts of the book," he quipped, saying it was "a little staggering" to have a library named after him.

 

Berton was also one of the nominees on the CBC's recently concluded Greatest Canadian series.

 

He said he thought it was pretentious to be on the list of historically significant figures.

 

"I think there are better icons than I," he said.

[Cougar 0]

I cannot remember him but his name sounds familiar. ::bangs head::