Pierre Berton, Canadian Historian
Canada's History Made Accessible and Interesting by Berton
Author, television personality, war correspondent and humourist, Pierre Berton was a man of many hats; one great accomplishment was illuminating Canada's history
His mother predicted her son’s future at his birth. “We’re intending that he should become a Personality. A well known Personality,” she told an acquaintance after the birth of her first child, according to “Starting Out: My Story 1920 – 1947”. Laura Berton’s dreams were fulfilled. Born in the North, Pierre Berton became a well-respected author, television personality and popular Canadian historian.
Mere decades after the Klondike Gold Rush, Pierre Francis Berton was born in Whitehorse, Yukon on July 12, 1920 to parents Frank and Laura. Less than 18 months later, the family moved to Dawson where Pierre’s sister Lucy was born. (Frank had moved to the Yukon during the frenzy of the gold rush days; Laura moved to Dawson from Ontario to be a teacher. They met and married aged in their 30s, and began a family when in their early 40s.) Pierre was a protected child, having a near-deathly dose of pneumonia when he was two years old. His home in the Yukon was to have a profound affect on his perspective of Canada.
Berton hadTalent
Due to the miseries of the Great Depression, the Berton family moved to Victoria, BC when Pierre was a teenager. His love of writing began to sprout during his high school years. Klondike mining camps were his home during summers to earn tuition for his studies at University of British Columbia. Pierre sharpened his writing at the university newspaper, Ubyssey. Upon graduation, he found employment at the Vancouver News-Herald, becoming the youngest City Editor at age 21.
In 1942, Pierre signed up for duty in WWII. He trained in infantry and intelligence at Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario, earning his post as Captain in short order. Though thoroughly trained, Pierre did not see action, instead becoming an instructor at RMC and in England near the end of the War. Returning to Canada, he found himself falling in love with fellow Ubyssey alumna and The Province writer, Janet Walker. They married and made their new home in Vancouver, he working for the Vancouver Sun. (Sassy tongue in cheek, Pierre claimed that he married Janet because she was the only woman he knew that had an apartment. The rent in the tight 1946 market was a steep $45 a month.)
Less than a year later, the Bertons pulled up stakes and moved to Toronto. Pierre took a position with Canada’s acclaimed news magazine, Maclean’s, and did a stint as War Correspondent during the Korean War in 1951. At age 31, he was made managing editor. In 1956, he penned his first book, “Mysterious North”; the next year, the book that would become his biggest claim to fame, “Klondike”, was published. But over the next decade, a new era was about to dawn for Pierre Berton: Television.
Early Canadian Television Programming
The year 1957 saw fresh new programming hit the television airwaves. Pierre was part of distinctly Canadian programs, “Close-Up” and “Front Page Challenge”, noted Biography BaseIn the next year, he joined the Toronto Star newspaper as associate editor, staying for four years. In 1962 the busy man, now becoming a celebrity of sorts, started his own television broadcast, “The Pierre Berton Show”. His strong opinions and sometimes smug attitude drew both praise and condemnation.
A prolific and inspired writer, Pierre wrote an assortment of books, from political perspectives to biographies, battles of war to settlement stories, to rich histories of Canadian life across the vast nation. His skill as a writer allowed readers a real feel for the past, a sense of time and place that made Canadian history both accessible and entertaining. By 2004, book number 50 was published - “Pioneers of the North”, again featuring the North. Pierre took history a step further, absorbing his research into his life. “At day’s end,” he said in “My Times: Living With History 1947 – 1995 ”, “I felt that I was actually living in the past… the headlines, and also the advertisements of the previous century did not entirely vanish when I left the building… .”
Recognized for his invaluable contributions, Pierre Berton received many awards, stated the Canadian Encyclopedia:
- Governor General’s Awards (three times)
- Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour, 1959
- Officer of the Order of Canada, 1975
- Companion of the Order of Canada, 1986
- Honourary Degrees from several universities
- And many others.
Berton House established as Writer's Retreat
Over their long marriage, Janet and Pierre Berton were parents to eight children. The Berton family made their home in Kleinburg, Ontario, a village north of Toronto, for over 50 years. Pierre died at age 84 on November 30, 2004 of heart failure. Along with his many books, articles and programs, as a Berton legacy, he and his sister Lucy had established Berton House Writers Retreat in Dawson. The Canadian History Society instituted the Pierre Berton Award, annually honouring “wordsmiths who have dedicated their lives and careers to reminding us of our identity, our successes and our failures,” said the Canadian History Society.
His mother’s wish for her son came true. Pierre Berton was indeed a Well-Known Personality.
Starting Out: 1920 - 1947, by Pierre Berton, published by McClelland and Stewart, Toronto 1987
My Times: Living With History 1947 - 1995, by Pierre Berton, published by Doubleday Canada Ltd., Toronto 1995.
http://www.pierreberton.com/index.htm
 |
 |
 |
