OFKU0

Beloved Canadian author Pierre Berton dies
CTV.ca News Staff

Prolific Canadian author and broadcaster Pierre Berton has died at the age of 84.

Berton died at Toronto's Sunnybrook Hospital Tuesday. His longtime friend and associate Elsa Franklin said he had congestive heart failure and diabetes.

The bow tie-loving Berton was born in 1920 and raised in the Yukon. He worked in Klondike mining camps during his university years before beginning a newspaper career in Vancouver.

At the age of 31, he 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 long-running Front Page Challenge.

He joined The Toronto Star as associate editor in 1958, leaving in 1962 to commence The Pierre Berton Show, which ran until 1973.

Berton's first important book was The Mysterious North in 1956, followed by Klondike in 1958, a narrative of the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898. Berton did not return to book writing for many years as he busied himself with his broadcasting career.

In 1970, he resumed work as a historian, penning The National Dream about the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway. That was followed by The Last Spike the following year. Both were made into TV mini-series.

He went on to write more than 40 books over his career, most recently returning to his roots with Prisoners of the North.

Readers loved his gift for story-telling, the colorful personalities he presented and the way he made Canadian history both accessible and fascinating.

Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson said Berton "was the most remarkable writer of Canadian historical events in the last 50 years.

"So much of our nationhood and our collective identity as Canadians were created by him,'' she said.

Prime Minister Paul Martin extended his sympathy to the family and described Berton as one of Canada's great journalists and authors.

"His ability to chronicle the life and times of our great nation was without peer,'' he said in a statement. "His love of Canada, its people and its history, and his personal attachment to the North, was vividly expressed in his numerous books and writings as a journalist.''

For his efforts, Berton received three Governor General's Awards and numerous honorary degrees. He was also named a companion of the Order of Canada.

Berton unabashedly admitted his affection for marijuana, telling CTV's W-FIVE, "I'm sorry it's banned. I find it puts me to sleep.

Just last month, Berton appeared on the CBC satire show Rick Mercer's Monday Report, offering tips on how to roll a joint, joking that a less-than-firmly rolled "spliff "could leave unsightly toke burns on one's bow tie.

When Berton appeared on CTV's Canada AM in October 2002, he told then-co-host Lisa LaFlamme that he was an atheist, saying he didn't believe "there's a little man in the sky running our lives."

"I think you run your own life, that you make your own heaven and hell on this earth, and not in some hereafter.

"I don't think there's any hereafter."

Berton is survived by his wife, Janet, his eight children and 14 grandchildren.

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Well he lived long enough to see the Greatest Canadian on t.v. I'm 50/50 on Berton. Generally enjoyed his character but differed at times on opinion. The bloke liked pot though. Good life he did himself.

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" In Canada, you can tell the most blatant lie in a calm voice, and people will believe you over someone who's a little passionate about the truth." David Warren, Western Standard.

the_marq

RIP Mr. Berton.

If anyone is interested the video of him rolling a joint last month is pretty awesome and it's available on Rick's CBC site (week of October 18).

http://www.cbc.ca/mondayreport/backissues.html

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The Truth:

Johnny Cash could have kicked Bruce Lee's ass if he wanted to.

#3 in a series

Daoust

When I heard about Berton instructing on how to roll a joint on Monday report, I laughed out loud. That's the funniest segment in the show. It shows how cool Canadian intellectuals are. They're not prudes...

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I have faith in a few things - divinity and grace
But even when I'm on my knees I know the devil preys

Janey

Here here. An old guy that was really cool.

RIP Pierre

vox_rox

We are so lucky as a nation that we can truly embrace intellectuals, and that those intellectuals can feel free enough with other Canadians to be cool without fear that they'll be ostacized. We are lucky to live here, and we are lucky to have creators like Berton, and it is truly a time to bow your heads at the passing of one of the few people who found a way to make Canadian History (history, of all things), exciting, fun, and even titilating.

RIP Pierre Berton indeed.

Peace,

Pierre

Fly

that was beautiful..........many,many thanks for that.


RIP.........

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BASTARD

SterlingStudios

Fly

many books from many joints outta that man.........

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BASTARD

SterlingStudios

hiro-acid

It's been said, but to weigh in with my own sentiments, the man was an important intellectual for our country and will be missed.

/hope he's rollin blunts with bob marley in the great party in the sky..

Mango

RIP Pierre Berton. One of the coolest canadinas ever. And a damn file writer to boot.