Bill Freeman
Encyclopedia
Bill Freeman is a Canadian author who has written historical fiction for young adults, film scripts, documentaries, theatrical plays, educational videos and non-fiction books. He specializes in writing about Canada and the Canadian experience.
in Nova Scotia
. After graduating he worked as a Probation Officer and then did graduate work in sociology at McMaster University
in Hamilton, Ontario
.
It was while living in Hamilton that Freeman began to write the Bains Series of books for young adults. There are now nine books in the Bains Series. Each focuses on a different industrial setting in Canada
in the 1870s. The first book in the series, Shantymen of Cache Lake, received the Canada Council Children’s Literature Prize for 1975 and several of the other books have received awards.
Freeman’s books for adults follow political and social themes. Local 1005 is a political study of a Steelworkers’ local in Hamilton. Their Town, co-authored with Marsha Hewitt, is an analysis of Hamilton city politics and Hamilton: a People’s History, traces the development of the political and social life of the city. Freeman also authored a social and pictorial history of Toronto Island, where he now lives, called A Magical Place and another pictorial history, Casa Loma, Toronto’s Fairy-Tale Castle and its Owner, Sir Henry Pellatt.
While working in the film industry Freeman co-authored Far From Home, Canadians in the First World War, with Richard Nielsen. This book emerged from an extensive three hour documentary film project of the same name, produced by Nielsen. That experience led to other film projects. Freeman was the researcher and writer of an extensive series of science educational videos for the high school market called the Elements of Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences.
Freeman’s partner on these educational videos was the well known Canadian children’s film producer Wendy Loten. The two went on to work together on Loten’s Mighty Machines 2 and 3. These films have been broadcast on TVO
and Tree House Television.
Freeman also wrote two plays. Ghosts of the Madawaska is a children’s play commissioned and performed by the Great Canadian Theatre Company in Ottawa, and Glory Days, a play about the 1946 Stelco strike in Hamilton, has been performed by Theatre Aquarius.
Casa Loma: Toronto’s Fairy-tale Castle and its Owner, Sir Henry Pellatt, Award of Merit, Heritage Toronto, October, 1999
Prairie Fire selected for the Canadian Children’s Book Centre “Our Choice” list and nominated for the for Historical Fiction for Young People, 1998
Several books in the Bains Series were selected for “Our Choice” list. for Children’s Literature, 1984 (for a body of work, Bains Series)
Canada Council Award for Juvenile Literature
, 1976 (This award is now called the Governor General’s award for Juvenile Literature)
Hamilton: A People’s History, James Lorimer and Co., Publishers, 2001
Far From Home: Canadians in the First World War, with Richard Nielsen, McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1999
A Magical Place: Toronto Island and its People, James Lorimer & Company Ltd., Publishers, 1999
Casa Loma: Toronto’s Fairy-tale Castle and its Owner, Sir Henry Pellatt, James Lorimer & Company Ltd., Publishers, 1998
1005 Political Life of a Union Local, James Lorimer & Company Ltd. Publishers, 1982
Their Town: The Mafia, The Media and the Party Machine, (with Marsha Hewitt); James Lorimer & Company Ltd. Publishers, 1979
Sioux Winter, James Lorimer & Company Ltd. Publishers, 1999
Prairie Fire! James Lorimer & Company Ltd. Publishers, 1998
Danger on the Tracks, James Lorimer & Company Ltd. Publishers, 1987
Harbour Thieves, James Lorimer & Company Ltd. Publishers, 1984
Trouble at Lachine Mill, James Lorimer & Company Ltd. Publishers, 1983
The Last Voyage of the Scotian, James Lorimer & Company Ltd. Publishers, 1976
First Spring on the Grand Banks, James Lorimer & Company Ltd. Publishers, 1978
Shantymen of Cache Lake, James Lorimer & Company Ltd. Publishers, 1975
Theatrical Play produced by Theatre Aquarius:
“Glory Days,” a play with music, produced by Theatre Aquarius, Hamilton 1989
“Glory Days,” re-mounted by Theatre Aquarius in September/October Hamilton 2006
Play for Young Adults:
“Ghosts of the Madawaska,” Great Canadian Theatre Company, Ottawa, 1985
Children’s Television Series:
Script Writer, “Mighty Machines 2,” a fourteen part half hour programs for pre school children produced for TVO, TFO and Treehouse by Loten Media.
Script Writer, “Mighty Machines 3,” a fourteen part half hour programs for pre school children produced for TVO, TFO and Treehouse by Loten Media.
Educational and Documentary Videos:
Script Writer, “Canada for Children,” A three part series of videos for elementary school children. Producer: Redcanoe Productions.
Script Writer/Educational Consultant: “Elements of Earth Sciences,” six educational videos for high school students. Producer: Algonquin Educational Productions.
Script Writer/Educational Consultant: “Elements of Chemistry,” six educational videos for high school students. Producer: Algonquin Educational Productions.
Script Writer/Educational Consultant: “Elements of Physics,” six educational videos for high school students. Producer: Algonquin Educational Productions.
Script Writer/Educational Consultant and Narrator: “Elements of Biology” A series of six educational films for the high school students. Producer: Loten Media.
Historical consultant/Scriptwriter “Hamilton: Where the Rubber Meets the Road,” Producer: Red Canoe Productions
Script Writer/Narrator, “Kiev Pecherska Lavra,” Producer, 3rd Street Videos, 1995
Narrator/Researcher “Remembering Toronto,” Producer: PBS Buffalo
The End of War, a book project under development
Foreplay, a theatrical play about relationships
Biography
After high school Freeman worked in Western Canada for a year and then traveled extensively in Europe. He returned to Canada to attend Acadia UniversityAcadia University
Acadia University is a predominantly undergraduate university located in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada with some graduate programs at the master's level and one at the doctoral level...
in Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
. After graduating he worked as a Probation Officer and then did graduate work in sociology at McMaster University
McMaster University
McMaster University is a public research university whose main campus is located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land in the residential neighbourhood of Westdale, adjacent to Hamilton's Royal Botanical Gardens...
in Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
.
It was while living in Hamilton that Freeman began to write the Bains Series of books for young adults. There are now nine books in the Bains Series. Each focuses on a different industrial setting in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in the 1870s. The first book in the series, Shantymen of Cache Lake, received the Canada Council Children’s Literature Prize for 1975 and several of the other books have received awards.
Freeman’s books for adults follow political and social themes. Local 1005 is a political study of a Steelworkers’ local in Hamilton. Their Town, co-authored with Marsha Hewitt, is an analysis of Hamilton city politics and Hamilton: a People’s History, traces the development of the political and social life of the city. Freeman also authored a social and pictorial history of Toronto Island, where he now lives, called A Magical Place and another pictorial history, Casa Loma, Toronto’s Fairy-Tale Castle and its Owner, Sir Henry Pellatt.
While working in the film industry Freeman co-authored Far From Home, Canadians in the First World War, with Richard Nielsen. This book emerged from an extensive three hour documentary film project of the same name, produced by Nielsen. That experience led to other film projects. Freeman was the researcher and writer of an extensive series of science educational videos for the high school market called the Elements of Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences.
Freeman’s partner on these educational videos was the well known Canadian children’s film producer Wendy Loten. The two went on to work together on Loten’s Mighty Machines 2 and 3. These films have been broadcast on TVO
TVO
TVO is an abbreviation with several different significations:*Televisora de Oriente, a Venezuelan TV station*Teollisuuden Voima, a Finnish nuclear power company*Total Value of Ownership, an evaluation method*TVOntario, a Canadian TV station...
and Tree House Television.
Freeman also wrote two plays. Ghosts of the Madawaska is a children’s play commissioned and performed by the Great Canadian Theatre Company in Ottawa, and Glory Days, a play about the 1946 Stelco strike in Hamilton, has been performed by Theatre Aquarius.
Awards and Prizes
A Magical Place: Toronto Island and Its People, Certificate of Commendation, Heritage Toronto, October 2000Casa Loma: Toronto’s Fairy-tale Castle and its Owner, Sir Henry Pellatt, Award of Merit, Heritage Toronto, October, 1999
Prairie Fire selected for the Canadian Children’s Book Centre “Our Choice” list and nominated for the for Historical Fiction for Young People, 1998
Several books in the Bains Series were selected for “Our Choice” list. for Children’s Literature, 1984 (for a body of work, Bains Series)
Canada Council Award for Juvenile Literature
1975 Governor General's Awards
Each winner of the 1975 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.-English Language:*Fiction: Brian Moore, The Great Victorian Collection....
, 1976 (This award is now called the Governor General’s award for Juvenile Literature)
Adult Non-fiction
Glory Days, Playwrights Canada Press, 2007Hamilton: A People’s History, James Lorimer and Co., Publishers, 2001
Far From Home: Canadians in the First World War, with Richard Nielsen, McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1999
A Magical Place: Toronto Island and its People, James Lorimer & Company Ltd., Publishers, 1999
Casa Loma: Toronto’s Fairy-tale Castle and its Owner, Sir Henry Pellatt, James Lorimer & Company Ltd., Publishers, 1998
1005 Political Life of a Union Local, James Lorimer & Company Ltd. Publishers, 1982
Their Town: The Mafia, The Media and the Party Machine, (with Marsha Hewitt); James Lorimer & Company Ltd. Publishers, 1979
The Bains Series of Young Adult Fiction
Ambush in the Foothills, James Lorimer & Company Ltd. Publishers, 2000Sioux Winter, James Lorimer & Company Ltd. Publishers, 1999
Prairie Fire! James Lorimer & Company Ltd. Publishers, 1998
Danger on the Tracks, James Lorimer & Company Ltd. Publishers, 1987
Harbour Thieves, James Lorimer & Company Ltd. Publishers, 1984
Trouble at Lachine Mill, James Lorimer & Company Ltd. Publishers, 1983
The Last Voyage of the Scotian, James Lorimer & Company Ltd. Publishers, 1976
First Spring on the Grand Banks, James Lorimer & Company Ltd. Publishers, 1978
Shantymen of Cache Lake, James Lorimer & Company Ltd. Publishers, 1975
Young Adult Books
Cedric and the North End Kids, James Lorimer & Company Ltd. Publishers, 1978Theatrical Play produced by Theatre Aquarius:
“Glory Days,” a play with music, produced by Theatre Aquarius, Hamilton 1989
“Glory Days,” re-mounted by Theatre Aquarius in September/October Hamilton 2006
Play for Young Adults:
“Ghosts of the Madawaska,” Great Canadian Theatre Company, Ottawa, 1985
Children’s Television Series:
Script Writer, “Mighty Machines 2,” a fourteen part half hour programs for pre school children produced for TVO, TFO and Treehouse by Loten Media.
Script Writer, “Mighty Machines 3,” a fourteen part half hour programs for pre school children produced for TVO, TFO and Treehouse by Loten Media.
Educational and Documentary Videos:
Script Writer, “Canada for Children,” A three part series of videos for elementary school children. Producer: Redcanoe Productions.
Script Writer/Educational Consultant: “Elements of Earth Sciences,” six educational videos for high school students. Producer: Algonquin Educational Productions.
Script Writer/Educational Consultant: “Elements of Chemistry,” six educational videos for high school students. Producer: Algonquin Educational Productions.
Script Writer/Educational Consultant: “Elements of Physics,” six educational videos for high school students. Producer: Algonquin Educational Productions.
Script Writer/Educational Consultant and Narrator: “Elements of Biology” A series of six educational films for the high school students. Producer: Loten Media.
Historical consultant/Scriptwriter “Hamilton: Where the Rubber Meets the Road,” Producer: Red Canoe Productions
Script Writer/Narrator, “Kiev Pecherska Lavra,” Producer, 3rd Street Videos, 1995
Narrator/Researcher “Remembering Toronto,” Producer: PBS Buffalo
Works in Progress
“The End of War?” a four part documentary film series and 22 part educational series on war produced by Norflicks Production for Vision TV. Bill Freeman will be the script writer and on air host.The End of War, a book project under development
Foreplay, a theatrical play about relationships