Writer, columnist, journalist, husband, father, grandfather
I was born in Ingersoll, near London, Ontario, Canada, and studied journalism at Mohawk College in Hamilton, before landing my first job as a sportswriter at a suburban newspaper in Dundas, Ontario, in 1973.
One of my earliest memories, however, is of stacking freshly printed newspapers in the pressroom at my parents’ weekly newspaper in Tilbury, Ontario, near Windsor. I must have been no older than six or seven at the time.
I eventually returned to the family business, purchasing my parents’ two newspapers in Tilbury and Belle River, and launching a third in nearby Tecumseh. I was also a founding partner in a very successful shoppers’ paper in nearby Chatham.
I am an award-winning author, have received several national and provincial awards for my editorial writing and twice winning best editorial in Canada and best column in Ontario from the national and provincial community newspaper associations.
In 1994, the papers were sold to a larger publishing company, and the following year my wife and my two youngest children and I moved west, to Edmonton, Alberta.
In Edmonton, I became an editorial writer and columnist for the
Edmonton Journal, one of the nation's largest newspapers. My columns, published in the Edmonton Journal six days a week, reached an audience of more than a quarter of a million people.
In 2009, I co-authored I'd Trade Him Again: On Gretzky, Politics and the Pursuit of the Perfect Deal,' with fellow journalist J'lyn Nye.
The book was about former Edmonton Oilers owner and entrepreneur Peter Pocklington, the man renowned for trading hockey superstar Wayne Gretzky. Thus the title. The first and second editions of the book were published by Fenn Publishing Company Ltd., of Toronto. Later, the publishing rights reverted to Ms Nye and myself. I chose to self-publish the book, and retitled it The Puck Talks Here: The Amazing Life & Turbulent Times of Peter Pocklington, a title I felt more accurately reflected the book’s contents.
I have also published a “mini-book” titled I’d Trade Him Again: Wayne Gretzky & Peter Pocklington, which can be accurately described as a hockey book. It consists of seven chapters from the complete biography which chronicle the building of the Edmonton Oilers, the Gretzky trade and the relationship between the two men.
In 2017, I co-authored the memoir of successful Anglo-American property developer Dennis Horne, call Cabbage Brain, An Englishman’s Journey to American Success. And in 2022, I partnered with former Ventura County D.A. Michael Bradbury to pen the story of his amazing career – Law & Disorder: Confessions of a District Attorney.
Most recently, I completed the novel Lethbridge: A Tale of Love in a Time of War, which chronicles the wonderful, amazing story of my family during an important period in Canadian history, including the First World War, when Canada is said to have truly achieved its nationhood.
My wife (a talented writer in her own right, and a valuable editor)
and I live in Edmonton. I am the proud father of five children,
grandfather of seven, and (soon-to-be) great-grandfather.
A recent photo, taken the day after major dental surgery. I remain particularly well-preserved.
For years I lived the stereotypical life of a cigarette-smoking, coffee-guzzling newspaperman and devoted Maple Leafs fan. On the occasion of my 40th birthday, my staff presented me with this "portrait" by our cartoonist, Paul Lachine.
Before my knees gave out, the result of my youthful days as a hockey goalie, my passion was for another great Canadian winter sport, curling.
With one of the loyal companions I have been blessed with over the years, Jenny, our Jack Russell. This photo was taken on vacation in Lake Tahoe, California.