Pierre Berton

:For other people with the same name, see Pierre Berton (disambiguation).

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 university years. He spent four years in the army, rising from private to captain and instructor at the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario. He spent his early newspaper career in Vancouver, where at 21 he was the youngest city editor on any Canadian daily.

Related Topics:
Whitehorse, Yukon - Yukon - Klondike Gold Rush - Klondike - Royal Military College - Kingston, Ontario - Vancouver - Canadian

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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. Since then he has appeared as host and writer on My Country, The Great Debate, Heritage Theatre, The Secret of My Success and The National Dream.

Related Topics:
Toronto - 1947 - Maclean's - 1957 - CBC - Close-Up - Front Page Challenge - Toronto Star - 1958 - 1962 - The Pierre Berton Show - 1973 - My Country - The Great Debate - Heritage Theatre - The National Dream

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He has served as the Chancellor of Yukon College and, along with numerous honorary degrees, has 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 Leger National Heritage Award.

Related Topics:
Yukon College - Governor-General's Award for Creative Non-Fiction - Stephen Leacock Medal of Humour - Gabrielle Leger National Heritage Award

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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.

Related Topics:
Canada's Walk of Fame - The Greatest Canadian

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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.

Related Topics:
2004 - CanWest News Service

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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.

Related Topics:
October 17 - 2004 - CAD - Vaughan, Ontario - Kleinburg, Ontario

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Berton passed away at Sunnybrook hospital in Toronto, reportedly due to heart failure, at the age of 84 on November 30, 2004.

Related Topics:
Heart failure - November 30 - 2004

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His childhood home, now called Berton House, is a writers' retreat where a writer is allowed to live. The only stipulation is that the writer give a public lecture. Many books have been created during the tenancy of writers in that house.

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