Death of a Canadian Icon

Pierre Berton was one of those writers whose name was an inextricable part of the CanLit landscape. I just sort of assumed he’d always be there, but of course, that’s never the case. He died last night at the age of 84, and the National Post does their best to remember the man he was:

When hardly out of his teens, Pierre Berton’s adoring mother wrote a

book about him called It’s a Boy! No one would publish it, since he was

a total unknown.

Berton changed all that, publishing more than 40 books and casting a

towering media shadow across Canada as newspaper columnist, Maclean’s

magazine editor and broadcast personality. The hallmark of the Berton

image was his enthusiasm and immense energy. He loved flamboyant style

– thick white sideburns, huge butterfly-like bow ties and dramatic

opera cloaks.

In his heyday, he sometimes churned out 15,000 words a day –

including a 1,200-word daily column for the Toronto Star – while also

reading and answering all his mail and taking calls from anyone who

phoned.

“You never know when you’re going to get a usable idea,” he said.

RIP, Pierre. We’ll miss you, in our own way.