Pierre Berton (journalist)

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Pierre Francis de Marigny Berton , CC , O.Ont , (born July 12, 1920 in Whitehorse , Yukon , † November 30, 2004 in Toronto , Ontario ) was a Canadian author and journalist. Berton has published more than 50 books, including many on Canadian history , anthologies, and children's books. In addition, he has appeared frequently on television and has made Canadian history accessible to a wide public because of his work.

Life

Berton was born in Whitehorse in 1920, where his father Frank Berton moved in 1898 as a result of the Klondike gold rush . In 1921 his family moved to Dawson City , where they stayed until 1932. His mother, Laura Beatrice Berton, nee Thompson, was a teacher in Toronto before moving to Dawson to head the kindergarten. Pierre Berton initially worked in a mine like his father. As a student at the University of British Columbia , he worked on the student newspaper The Ubyssey . He was later the youngest editor of a Canadian daily newspaper in Vancouver at the age of 21. In 1942 Berton was drafted into the Canadian Army as part of the national mobilization and after basic training was assigned to the Go Active overseas campaign . Due to his university career, he was later trained as an officer. During the Second World War he remained in the military and was u. a. Instructor at the Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston .

In 1947 Berton moved to Toronto where he became editor-in-chief of Maclean's magazine . In 1957 he became an important member of the showcase program Close-Up of the CBC as well as a regular discussion guest on the popular program Front Page Challenge . In the same year he acted as narrator for the documentary City of Gold , which was nominated for an Oscar . In 1958 he became a columnist and co-editor of the Toronto Star and received his own television show in 1962, which ran until 1973. Berton interviewed numerous artists, actors and other personalities, including Malcolm X (1965) and Lenny Bruce (1966). In 1971 Bruce Lee even gave him the only known TV interview. Berton has also hosted and written other television programs.

In the 1980s Berton turned increasingly to the activity of book author and was best known for his popular science history books. Berton received a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto in 1998 and was voted 31st of the Greatest Canadians on April 5, 2004 on The Greatest Canadian program . In 1994 he received a history award ( Pierre Berton Award ), later named after him , which is awarded annually by Canada's National History Society.

Honors

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

Works (selection)

  • The Mysterious North: Encounters with the Canadian Frontier, 1947-1954 . Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1956.
  • Klondike: The Last Great Gold Rush . Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1958. ISBN 0-385-65844-3
  • The Secret World of Og . Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1961.
  • The Cool, Crazy, Committed World of the Sixties. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1966.
  • The National Dream . Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1970.
  • The Last Spike . Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1971.
  • The Dionne Years: A Thirties Melodrama . Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1977.
  • The Invasion of Canada . Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1980. ISBN 0-316-09216-9
  • Flames across the border . Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1981. ISBN 0-316-09217-7
  • Why We Act Like Canadians . Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1982.
  • The Klondike Quest . Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1983.
  • Vimy . Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1986. ISBN 0-7710-1339-6 .
  • The Arctic Grail . Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1988. ISBN 0-385-65845-1 .
  • The Great Depression . Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1990. ISBN 0-7710-1270-5 .
  • My Times: Living With History 1917-1995 . Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 1995. ISBN 0-385-25528-4 .
  • The Battle of Lake Erie . Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1994 ISBN 0-7710-1424-4 .
  • Attack on Montreal . Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1995. ISBN 0-7710-1419-8 .
  • 1967: The Last Good Year . Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 1997. ISBN 0-385-25662-0 .
  • Welcome To The 21st Century . Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 2000. ISBN 0-385-25818-6 .
  • Marching as to War . Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 2001. ISBN 0-385-25725-2 .
  • Cats I Have Known and Loved . Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 2002. ISBN 0-385-65938-5 .
  • The Joy of Writing: A Guide for Writers, Disguised as a Literary Memoir . Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 2003. ISBN 0-385-65997-0 .

Filmography

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Toronto Star (Warren Gerard): He was' all fire and sparkling with ideas , December 1, 2004, pp. A08, A09
  2. ^ Pierre Berton: Starting Out , McClelland and Stewart 1987.
  3. ^ Order of Canada: Pierre Berton, CC, O.Ont., BA, D.Litt.
personal data
SURNAME Berton, Pierre
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Marigny Berton, Pierre Francis de (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian author and journalist
DATE OF BIRTH July 12, 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH Whitehorse , Yukon
DATE OF DEATH November 30, 2004
Place of death Toronto , Ontario