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Goodbye, Pierre Berton

Broadcast Date: Nov. 30, 2004

Pierre Berton, one of Canada's best-known authors and cultural commentators, died at age 84 on Nov. 30, 2004. Berton was a prolific author who wrote bestsellers about Canadian history, from The Mysterious North in 1956 to Prisoners of the North in 2004. He was also a journalist, broadcaster and panellist on CBC's long-running news quiz show Front Page Challenge. In this CBC-TV clip, reporter Dan Bjarnason looks back on Berton's life and career.

Born in Whitehorse, Yukon in 1920, Berton made his mark as a newspaper reporter in Vancouver before moving to Toronto to work for Maclean's in 1947. His career with CBC television began in 1952, and in 1957 he joined the panel on Front Page Challenge. He remained a panellist until the show's cancellation in 1995. In 1974 the CBC produced The National Dream, an adaptation of Berton's books about the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway.

Berton's ideas generated considerable controversy in the 1960s, starting with his 1962 book The Comfortable Pew, which accused the Anglican Church of failing to adapt to modern society. A year later, he was dropped by Maclean's after the public and advertisers reacted with outrage to a column he'd written advocating premarital sex – an unspeakable taboo at the time.

Berton continued to write throughout his life, producing over 70 books – histories, anthologies, autobiographical works, and a historic-adventure series for young adults. His much-loved children's book The Secret World of Og was illustrated by his daughter Patsy, and his wife Janet co-authored The Centennial Food Guide.

Goodbye, Pierre Berton

• Pierre Berton got his start in both broadcasting and newspaper writing at the same place: the University of British Columbia. He was editor of the campus newspaper The Ubyssey, and was also the campus correspondent for a Vancouver daily. UBC had no radio station of its own at the time, but as a member of the school's radio society, Berton hosted school-themed programs on local Vancouver stations.

• Berton began wearing his signature bow ties in the early 1950s. In his 1995 book My Times, he recalled commenting on the bow tie of Hal Straight, his former editor. Straight dashed into a haberdashery, bought one for Berton, and showed him how to tie it. "From that moment I was hooked on bow ties," Berton wrote. "What was good enough for Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Harry Truman was good enough for me."

• Berton was an outspoken opponent of South Africa's policy of apartheid. In 1961, he compared apartheid South Africa with Nazi Germany and challenged Prime Minister John Diefenbaker to lead a Commonwealth revolt against apartheid.
• He also participated in anti-apartheid rallies, which prompted the RCMP to keep a file on him. They suspected him of communist sympathies.

• In 1984 Berton and fellow radio personality Charles Templeton developed a Canadian trivia game called Tour de Force. The game sold well and the pair made about $100,000.
• Canada's top history award is the Pierre Berton Award. It was established by the National History Society in 1994 and is awarded to people or organizations for "distinguished achievement in popularizing Canadian history."

Goodbye, Pierre Berton

Medium: Television

Program: Canada Now

Broadcast Date: Nov. 30, 2004

Guest(s): Pierre Berton

Host: Diana Swain
Reporter: Dan Bjarnason

Duration: 5:13

Rick Mercer's Monday Report produced by Island Edge Inc.

Last updated:
Nov. 4, 2010