Pierre Berton is a Canadian icon. As a storyteller, a journalist, and an historical writer, his work is dizzyingly diverse, ranging from children's fiction to provocative criticisms of the Anglican church to coffee-table anthologies of prose and photographs to startlingly accessible books on the history of Canada and its people. Regardless of the subject matter, Berton's prose always reads like the best fiction. And no matter how challenging the topics he addresses, he never fails to entertain.
Berton was born on 12 July 1920, the son of one of the men who had ventured north in search of gold during the Klondike gold rush, and he grew up in Dawson City amidst the remains of the Klondike legacy. During his university years he worked in the mining camps left over from the rush. This is probably the reason why so many of his books focus on Canada's far north –- of his forty-six books, nearly twenty revolve around the Klondike region, the gold rushes, the dangers of expeditions to the North Pole, and other peculiarly Northern concerns.
After spending four years in the Canadian military -– rising to the rank of captain and instructor at Kingston's Royal Military College -– Berton turned to journalism. His career in the media began in 1942, when he was hired by the Vancouver News-Herald where he worked for three years; by the end of his stint there he had been named city editor. In 1945 he switched camps to write for the Vancouver Sun, and from there he was hired by Maclean's, a considerable step up insofar as popularity and readership are concerned, in 1947; he was eventually appointed managing editor of the magazine. A decade later he was picked up by the Toronto Star as a columnist, and this was when his career as a writer of some note took off.
His first book was published in 1958. True to his roots, it was a narrative history of the Klondike gold rush of 1898, entitled simply Klondike. Since its publication, it has sold more than 150 000 copies in Canada –- remarkable for any book, made even more so because it is a work of non-fiction.
In 1957, Berton was hired by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as a panellist on the public affairs programme Close-Up. This launched his television career; in 1962, after leaving the Toronto Star, he hosted his own programme (called, inventively, The Pierre Berton Show), which was on air until 1973. He also appeared on a number of other programmes –- most notably The Great Debate, My Country, Heritage Theatre, and Front Page Challenge -– in the capacity of writer or host, and sometimes both.
As a writer, most of Berton's work focuses on the history of Canada. But it isn't presented as dry and encyclopaedic; all of his books are a fascinating read for anyone. One criticism that has been levelled against him is that he is too uncritical of theories put forward by historians of the past and of events that took place, and he tends to be too engrossed in the "Canadian dream"¹ of building a better nation. This might well be true –- but because of the way his books have helped to popularise Canadian history, bringing the past into context for the contemporary reader, it is a forgivable offence.
About half of his books are intended for a younger audience, children in the higher years of elementary school and in junior high. These, too, are books about Canadian history; but the way Berton writes is so engaging that it's easy to forget that they are educational. Reading too much Pierre Berton in my salad days is one of the reasons why I'm an incorrigible Canadiana nerd -– the heroes and villains and shady goings-on in history come alive in his writing, and inspire you to find out more.
Every volume is very, very carefully-researched, by either Berton himself or one of his team of historical researchers, and it shows in not only the remarkable thoroughness of his accounts but also in the accolades that he has received for his work. He has been given three prestigious Governor General's Awards, the Gabrielle Leger National Heritage Award, and over thirty other literary awards. He is a companion of the Order of Canada and has twelve honorary degrees from Canadian universities, including a doctorate from Athabasca University awarded in 1982 "in recognition of his eminence as an historian, writer, and commentator, and of his concern for, and dedication to, Canada".
Not half bad for someone who mostly wrote about the minutiae of Canadian history.
Pierre Berton died in Toronto today, November 30, 2004, at the age of 84. He will be sorely missed.
A partial list of Pierre Berton's books:
¹ Another Canadian writer, Will Ferguson, claims that the Canadian dream is to be an associate professor: all of the success, but none of the risk. I can't see that being too far off the mark.
Sources:
"Pierre Berton". http://www.writersunion.ca/b/berton.htm
Michael Owen. "Aurora Online with Pierre Berton". http://aurora.icaap.org/talks/berton.html
"Pierre Berton". http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&ArticleId=A0000707
List of works taken from amazon.ca.