Name Barry Broadfoot Role Writer | Died 2003, Nanaimo, Canada Education University of Manitoba | |
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Books Ten lost years: 1929‑1939, The pioneer years - 18, Ten Lost Years: 1929‑193, Six war years 1939‑1945, Years of sorrow - years of s | ||
Douglas gibson on barry broadfoot
Barry Samuel Broadfoot, CM (January 21, 1926 – November 28, 2003) was a Canadian journalist, interviewer and history writer born and attended university in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
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History
Barry Broadfoot's first job at 17 years old was as a cub reporter who had to go to the homes of men killed in action in World War II and obtain photographs to run along with their death notices. At 18, he joined the Canadian Army and spent the next two years in the infantry.
Broadfoot's historical research consisted of interviewing various Canadians from all over the country about their memories of their lives during specific historical periods such as the Great Depression and World War II. Ten Lost Years, his first in this series of books, published in 1973, was an oral history of the experiences of people during the Great Depression. He collected the experiences, via taped interviews, during the course of travelling across Canada four times, subsequent to leaving his position with the Vancouver Sun in 1971. The collected interviews became the basis of Ten Lost Years, a play written by Jack Winter, with music by Cedric Smith. The play, directed by George Luscombe, premiered in Toronto, toured Canada in 1974 and continues to be performed.
In 1997, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada, Canada's highest civilian honour.
In 1998, Broadfoot suffered a stroke, which blinded him and impaired his memory. He died in Nanaimo, British Columbia, on November 28, 2003.