Biographies and autobiographies

  • How come I'm dead?

    Creator

    McDonald, Glen

    Abstract

    Covers the highlights of 26 years in the career of Judge Glen McDonald, who was the colorful and often controversial Vancouver Coroner from 1954 to 1980 and supervisory coroner for the province of British Columbia from 1969 to 1980.

    Audience
    Adult**
    Publisher (Source)

    Surrey, B.C.

    Hancock House

    Not specified
  • The Muslimah who fell to earth : personal stories by Canadian Muslim women

    Abstract

    These are twenty-two personal stories, told by women from practically all backgrounds and persuasions--devout and not-so devout, professionals and housewives, westernized and traditional, wearing jeans, hijab, or niqab, and originally from Africa to North America to Pakistan to the Middle East--revealing in their own ways what it means to them to be a Muslim woman (a "Muslimah"). What we get is a complex of stories, all united by two simple ideas--faith and nationality (Canadian).

    Audience
    Adult**
    Publisher (Source)

    Toronto, Ontario

    Mawenzi House

    Not specified
  • The night we stole the mountie's car

    Creator

    Braithwaite, Max.

    Abstract

    Max Braithwaite has the unique capacity to be both tender and caustic – both nostalgic and uncompromisingly honest. He is also one of Canada’s few original humorists. All these qualities are present in his latest bittersweet recollections of life on the Prairies during the early Thirties. It was a time of depression and drought; but for Max, a young schoolteacher, it was also a time for courtship and marriage, for those hilarious episodes in Wannego, Saskatchewan, which did much to belie the grimness of the era.

    Audience
    Adult**
    Publisher (Source)

    Toronto, Ont.

    McClelland & Stewart

    Not specified
  • Montcalm and Wolfe : two men who forever changed the course of Canadian history

    Creator

    Carrier, Roch

    Abstract

    "The story of Wolfe and Montcalm and the Plains of Abraham. In September 1759, a small band of British troops led by James Wolfe scaled the tall cliff overlooking a farmer's field owned by Abraham Martin and overpowered the French garrison that protected the area, allowing the bulk of the British army to ascend the cliff behind and attack the French who, led by Louis-Joseph Montcalm, were largely unaware of Wolfe's tactics. The battle that ensued on what would become known as the Plains of Abraham would forever shape the geography and politics of Canada.

    Audience
    Adult**
    Publisher (Source)

    Toronto : HarperCollins Canada, 2014

    Not specified
  • Brook Benton : there goes that song again

    Creator

    Gradischnig, Hertwig

    Maitner, Hans

    Abstract

    Brook Benton was a magnificent singer who could handle handle anything from blues, jazz and soul to country, pop and standards.  His version of Tony Joe White’s ‘Rainy Night In Georgia’ - an international smash in 1970 - remains a timeless classic.

    Audience
    Adult**
    Publisher (Source)

    Upper Poppleton, York : Music Mentor Books, [2015]

    Not specified
  • Christy Clark : behind the smile

    Creator

    Wilson, Judi Tyabji

    Abstract

    A political insider takes a revealing look at the public and private life of BC's controversial premier. In the blood-sport arena of provincial politics, BC's enigmatic premier, Christy Clark, has defied the pundits to win both party leadership and an upset election victory against all odds. Made deputy premier in 2001 shortly after her first foray into public life, she shunned Gordon Campbell's cabinet solidarity to return to private life in 2004. After a bold run at becoming Vancouver's mayor, she launched a successful media career as a CKNW talk show host.

    Audience
    Adult**
    Publisher (Source)

    Victoria, British Columbia : Heritage House Publishing, [2016]

    Not specified
  • In search of Canada : the early years of John Wesley Dafoe

    Creator

    Dafoe, Christopher

    Abstract

    This is the story of the formative years of Canada’s most famous newspaper editor, John Wesley Dafoe. Written by his grandson, it is an honest account of the man that his family and his friends knew, from his unpromising beginnings in the backwoods of pre-Confederation Ontario to his early and unexpected success in nineteenth century Canadian journalism. It includes an examination of Dafoe’s family background, his education, his early career, his rise as a national and international figure and his lifelong search for a true Canadian identity.

    Audience
    Adult**
    Publisher (Source)

    Winnipeg : Great Plains Publications, [2014]

    Not specified
  • Harold : the boy who became Mark Twain

    Creator

    Holbrook, Hal

    Abstract

    This is Hal Holbrook's affecting memoir of growing up behind disguises, and his lifelong search for himself. Abandoned by his mother and father when he was two, Holbrook and his two sisters each commenced their separate journeys of survival. Raised by his powerful grandfather until his death when Holbrook was twelve, he spent his childhood at boarding schools, visiting his father in an insane asylum, and hoping his mother would surface in Hollywood. As World War II engulfed Europe, Holbrook began acting almost by accident.

    Audience
    Adult**
    Publisher (Source)

    New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, [2011]

    Not specified
  • Overweight sensation : the life and comedy of Allan Sherman

    Creator

    Cohen, Mark

    Abstract

    Allan Sherman was the Larry David, the Adam Sandler, the Sacha Baron Cohen of 1963. He led Jewish humour and sensibilities out of ethnic enclaves and into the American mainstream with explosively funny parodies of classic songs that won Sherman extraordinary success and acclaim across the board, from Harpo Marx to President Kennedy. In Overweight Sensation, Mark Cohen argues persuasively for Sherman's legacy as a touchstone of postwar humour and a turning point in Jewish American cultural history.

    Audience
    Adult**
    Publisher (Source)

    Waltham, Mass. : Brandeis University Press, c2013

    Not specified