Donat Marc LeBourdais (1887 - November 8, 1964) was a Canadian non-fiction writer and political activist. He wrote eight books during his lifetime, including six on Canada's economic history, a financial investment guide and a biography of explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson.[1]
D.M. LeBourdais | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1887 Clinton, British Columbia, Canada |
| Died | November 8, 1964 (aged 77) Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Period | 20th century |
| Genre | History, non-fiction |
| Subject | Economics |
| Spouse | |
Born in Clinton, British Columbia and raised in Barkerville, he worked for the Yukon Telegraph Service before moving to Ottawa in 1919.[1] He founded the shortlived journal Canadian Nation, before joining a press syndicate to report on Stefansson's expedition to Wrangel Island.[1] He moved to Toronto in 1926, and began to write for periodicals including the Canadian Geographical Journal, Maclean's, Empire Review, Saturday Night and The Beaver.[2] During World War II, he was also employed as an administrator with the Wartime Prices and Trade Board.[1]
As an activist he was the founding executive secretary of the National Railway League, an organization formed to defend public ownership of the Canadian National Railway,[3] and served on the boards of the National Committee on Mental Hygiene and the Mental Patients Welfare Association.[4] He ran for election to the House of Commons of Canada in the 1935 federal election as a Co-operative Commonwealth Federation candidate in the electoral district of High Park, but lost to Alexander James Anderson.[5]
He married journalist Isabel LeBourdais in 1942. Isabel was noted for her 1966 book The Trial of Steven Truscott.[6] They raised four children. Their grandchildren include Mark LeBourdais, a musician who was associated with the band King Apparatus in the 1990s.
Works
edit- Northward on the New Frontier (1931)[7]
- Canada's Century (1951)[8]
- Why Be a Sucker? Invest in Canada (1952)[9]
- Nation of the North: Canada Since Confederation (1953)[10]
- Sudbury Basin: The Story of Nickel (1953)[11]
- Metals and Men: The Story of Canadian Mining (1957)[12]
- Canada and the Atomic Revolution (1959)[13]
- Stefansson: Ambassador of the North (1963)[14]
References
edit- ^ a b c d "D. M. LeBourdais: Explorer's Friend Author of 8 Books". The Globe and Mail. November 9, 1964. p. 4.
- ^ "Canada An Unfinished Country". Swan Valley Star and Times, May 17, 1962.
- ^ "Proposed League Pledges Defense Of C.N.R. System: New Organization Will Answer Hostile and Unfavorable Attacks on Publicly Owned Railways". The Globe and Mail, February 11, 1936.
- ^ "Whitby Patient Held Behind Bars, Says LeBourdais". The Globe and Mail, October 1, 1949.
- ^ "Parties Name Nominees in 169 Seats Today". Lethbridge Herald, October 7, 1935.
- ^ "Name Isabel LeBourdais Most Newsworthy Woman". Brandon Sun, December 24, 1966.
- ^ "Miscellaneous Topics Provide Grist for Authors' Literary Mills". Winnipeg Free Press, December 5, 1931.
- ^ "Rich Northern Resources Index to Canada's Future". The Globe and Mail, April 28, 1951.
- ^ "Invest Wisely". The Globe and Mail, October 11, 1952.
- ^ "Books received". Winnipeg Free Press, December 19, 1953.
- ^ "Rocky Sudbury Sustained By Vast Mineral Wealth". The Globe and Mail, December 19, 1953.
- ^ W.T. Easterbrook and M.H. Watkins, Approaches to Canadian Economic History. McGill-Queens University Press, 1967. ISBN 9780773591240. p. 277.
- ^ "Canada leader or satellite?" Lac du Bonnet Springfield Leader, January 19, 1960.
- ^ "Stefansson: Ambassador of the North by D.M. LeBourdais". Ottawa Citizen, December 7, 1963.
External links
edit- Donat LeBourdais papers on Stefansson biography at Dartmouth College Library
- Sigrid Galbraith Letters and Memoranda at Dartmouth College Library