Mark Bourrie
Encyclopedia
Mark Bourrie is an award-winning Canadian
journalist, best-selling author, historian
, and Carleton University
lecturer. He is the author of several books, including the best-selling The Fog of War (2011), By Reason of Insanity: The David Michael Krueger
Story (1997), Flim Flam (1998), and Many a Midnight Ship (2005). His work has also appeared in magazines and newspapers, including Toronto Life
, Canadian Business
, The Globe and Mail
, The Toronto Star, Huffington Post Canada and The National Post. He currently writes popular Canadian political blogs for Ottawa magazine and Torontoist.
in 1990. He holds a diploma in public policy and administration from the University of Guelph
; earned a Master's degree in journalism from Carleton University
and a doctorate in Canadian media history at the University of Ottawa
. His doctoral thesis was on the press censorship system in Canada in the Second World War and was published by Douglas & McIntyre of Vancouver in July, 2011, as The Fog of War. His master's thesis was on the media's role in banning cannabis
in Canada and was published in 2004 by Key Porter as Hemp. His public policy and administration research focused on Canada's security intelligence agencies.
. He worked as a forest fire fighter in northern Ontario in 1981.
Bourrie was a summer student reporter at The Hamilton Spectator
and The London Free Press and a student reporter at The Globe and Mail
before taking a job on The Toronto Sun in 1979 as assistant business editor and news reporter. He worked for two decades as a freelance news and feature writer, primarily for The Globe and Mail
from 1981 to 1989 and the Toronto Star
from 1989 to 1999 and again in 2009-2010. He was Parliamentary correspondent for the Law Times from 1994 until 2006. He also wrote for the InterPress Service, the United Nations-sponsored news and feature service. By the late 1990s, he had branched out from newspaper freelance work to book and magazine writing.
Bourrie won a National Magazine Award (NMA) in 2001 and honorable mentions in 2002 and 2004, in the Social Affairs category.
In 2004, he was nominated for a Canadian Association of Journalists
(CAJ) award for an article about the Depression-era execution in Ottawa of a man who was probably innocent. The article was researched entirely in the National Archives of Canada. He won a Canadian Archaeological Association public writing award (1989) and several Ontario Newspaper Awards (formerly Western Ontario Newspaper Awards). He also won the Ontario Community Canadian Newspaper Award for columnist of the year in 2008. His 1979 eyewitness account of an F4
tornado
in Woodstock
, Ontario
, helped earn his newspaper, The London Free Press, a National Newspaper Award nomination. Most of his NMA-nominated work focused on issues related to people wrongly accused of criminal offences or terrorism
. He has been a member of the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery since 1994.
. From 2007 to 2009, he was a lecturer at Concordia University's journalism school, teaching reporting, criticism and media history. He is also a lecturer at the Department of National Defence (Canada) School of Public Affairs, specializing in the history and practice of propaganda and censorship, and was a consultant to the Canadian War Museum for a recent show on war propaganda art. He has also written on the media relations strategy of William Lyon Mackenzie King
.
ship stories. Bourrie's Master's thesis was published by Key Porter as Hemp in 2004. His book on David Michael Krueger, a serial killer held in a psychiatric hospital in Ontario, was published in 1997 as By Reason of Insanity and was excerpted by several major Canadian newspapers.
Bourrie's tenth book, The Fog of War, was published in July, 2011 by Douglas & McIntyre after the original publisher, Key Porter, ceased operations in January, 2011. It reached sixth on Maclean's
magazine non-fiction bestseller list on Sept. 1.
and raised on the Georgian Bay
area of Ontario but now lives in Ottawa
. He is married to lawyer Marion Van de Wetering, who is author of two regional history books, An Ottawa Album (1999) and A Kingston Album (2000). Bourrie is a fossil hunter, collector
, and amateur paleontologist, specializing in trilobite
s.
His family, the Bourés, originally settled in Charlesbourg
, Quebec
in the 1660s and he is descended from King's Daughters
Anne Marie Bellehache
A close relative, Joseph Bourret
, served as mayor of Montreal
and in the Union government of Lafontaine-Baldwin. He was Quebec's first francophone banker.
Bourrie's interest in shipwrecks was kindled by family stories of the loss of four of his paternal grandfather's cousins on the Sand Merchant on Lake Erie
near Cleveland in 1936.
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...
journalist, best-selling author, historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
, and Carleton University
Carleton University
Carleton University is a comprehensive university located in the capital of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. The enabling legislation is The Carleton University Act, 1952, S.O. 1952. Founded as a small college in 1942, Carleton now offers over 65 programs in a diverse range of disciplines. Carleton has...
lecturer. He is the author of several books, including the best-selling The Fog of War (2011), By Reason of Insanity: The David Michael Krueger
Peter Woodcock
David Michael Krueger , best known by his birth name, Peter Woodcock, was a Canadian serial killer and child rapist who gained notoriety for the brutal murders of three young children in Toronto, Canada in 1956 and 1957 when he himself was still a teenager. He was subsequently diagnosed as a...
Story (1997), Flim Flam (1998), and Many a Midnight Ship (2005). His work has also appeared in magazines and newspapers, including Toronto Life
Toronto Life
Toronto Life is a monthly Canadian magazine about entertainment, politics and life in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Toronto Life also publishes a number of annual special interest guides about the city, including Home Decor, Stylebook, Eating & Drinking, Real Estate and Weddings. Established in 1966,...
, Canadian Business
Canadian Business
Canadian Business is the longest-publishing business magazine in Canada. It was founded in 1928 as The Commerce of the Nation, the organ of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. The magazine was renamed Canadian Business in 1933...
, The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
, The Toronto Star, Huffington Post Canada and The National Post. He currently writes popular Canadian political blogs for Ottawa magazine and Torontoist.
Education
Bourrie earned his BA in History at the University of WaterlooUniversity of Waterloo
The University of Waterloo is a comprehensive public university in the city of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The school was founded in 1957 by Drs. Gerry Hagey and Ira G. Needles, and has since grown to an institution of more than 30,000 students, faculty, and staff...
in 1990. He holds a diploma in public policy and administration from the University of Guelph
University of Guelph
The University of Guelph, also known as U of G, is a comprehensive public research university in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1964 after the amalgamation of Ontario Agricultural College, the Macdonald Institute, and the Ontario Veterinary College...
; earned a Master's degree in journalism from Carleton University
Carleton University
Carleton University is a comprehensive university located in the capital of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. The enabling legislation is The Carleton University Act, 1952, S.O. 1952. Founded as a small college in 1942, Carleton now offers over 65 programs in a diverse range of disciplines. Carleton has...
and a doctorate in Canadian media history at the University of Ottawa
University of Ottawa
The University of Ottawa is a bilingual, research-intensive, non-denominational, international university in Ottawa, Ontario. It is one of the oldest universities in Canada. It was originally established as the College of Bytown in 1848 by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate...
. His doctoral thesis was on the press censorship system in Canada in the Second World War and was published by Douglas & McIntyre of Vancouver in July, 2011, as The Fog of War. His master's thesis was on the media's role in banning cannabis
Cannabis
Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia. Cannabis has long been used for fibre , for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a...
in Canada and was published in 2004 by Key Porter as Hemp. His public policy and administration research focused on Canada's security intelligence agencies.
Journalism career
Before beginning a career in journalism, Bourrie worked in remote areas of Canada for the Canadian Pacific RailwayCanadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
. He worked as a forest fire fighter in northern Ontario in 1981.
Bourrie was a summer student reporter at The Hamilton Spectator
The Hamilton Spectator
The Hamilton Spectator, founded in 1846, is a newspaper published every day but Sunday in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The paper has a daily circulation of 105,000 and a daily readership of nearly 260,000.-History:...
and The London Free Press and a student reporter at The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
before taking a job on The Toronto Sun in 1979 as assistant business editor and news reporter. He worked for two decades as a freelance news and feature writer, primarily for The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
from 1981 to 1989 and the Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
from 1989 to 1999 and again in 2009-2010. He was Parliamentary correspondent for the Law Times from 1994 until 2006. He also wrote for the InterPress Service, the United Nations-sponsored news and feature service. By the late 1990s, he had branched out from newspaper freelance work to book and magazine writing.
Bourrie won a National Magazine Award (NMA) in 2001 and honorable mentions in 2002 and 2004, in the Social Affairs category.
In 2004, he was nominated for a Canadian Association of Journalists
Canadian Association of Journalists
The Canadian Association of Journalists or L'Association Canadienne des Journalistes in French is one of several Canadian organizations of journalists. It was created to promote excellence in journalism and encourage investigative journalism...
(CAJ) award for an article about the Depression-era execution in Ottawa of a man who was probably innocent. The article was researched entirely in the National Archives of Canada. He won a Canadian Archaeological Association public writing award (1989) and several Ontario Newspaper Awards (formerly Western Ontario Newspaper Awards). He also won the Ontario Community Canadian Newspaper Award for columnist of the year in 2008. His 1979 eyewitness account of an F4
Fujita scale
The Fujita scale , or Fujita-Pearson scale, is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation...
tornado
Tornado
A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...
in Woodstock
Woodstock, Ontario
Woodstock is a city and the county seat of Oxford County in Southern Ontario, Canada. Woodstock is located 128 km southwest of Toronto, north of Highway 401 along the historic Thames River...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, helped earn his newspaper, The London Free Press, a National Newspaper Award nomination. Most of his NMA-nominated work focused on issues related to people wrongly accused of criminal offences or terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
. He has been a member of the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery since 1994.
Academic
Bourrie lectures in History at Carleton UniversityCarleton University
Carleton University is a comprehensive university located in the capital of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. The enabling legislation is The Carleton University Act, 1952, S.O. 1952. Founded as a small college in 1942, Carleton now offers over 65 programs in a diverse range of disciplines. Carleton has...
. From 2007 to 2009, he was a lecturer at Concordia University's journalism school, teaching reporting, criticism and media history. He is also a lecturer at the Department of National Defence (Canada) School of Public Affairs, specializing in the history and practice of propaganda and censorship, and was a consultant to the Canadian War Museum for a recent show on war propaganda art. He has also written on the media relations strategy of William Lyon Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King, PC, OM, CMG was the dominant Canadian political leader from the 1920s through the 1940s. He served as the tenth Prime Minister of Canada from December 29, 1921 to June 28, 1926; from September 25, 1926 to August 7, 1930; and from October 23, 1935 to November 15, 1948...
.
Books
Ninety Fathoms Down (1995) was Canada's first collection of Great LakesGreat Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
ship stories. Bourrie's Master's thesis was published by Key Porter as Hemp in 2004. His book on David Michael Krueger, a serial killer held in a psychiatric hospital in Ontario, was published in 1997 as By Reason of Insanity and was excerpted by several major Canadian newspapers.
Bourrie's tenth book, The Fog of War, was published in July, 2011 by Douglas & McIntyre after the original publisher, Key Porter, ceased operations in January, 2011. It reached sixth on Maclean's
Maclean's
Maclean's is a Canadian weekly news magazine, reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events.-History:Founded in 1905 by Toronto journalist/entrepreneur Lt.-Col. John Bayne Maclean, a 43-year-old trade magazine publisher who purchased an advertising agency's in-house...
magazine non-fiction bestseller list on Sept. 1.
Personal life
Bourrie was born in TorontoToronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
and raised on the Georgian Bay
Georgian Bay
Georgian Bay is a large bay of Lake Huron, located entirely within Ontario, Canada...
area of Ontario but now lives in Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
. He is married to lawyer Marion Van de Wetering, who is author of two regional history books, An Ottawa Album (1999) and A Kingston Album (2000). Bourrie is a fossil hunter, collector
Fossil collecting
Fossil collecting is the collection of fossils for scientific study, hobby, or profit. Fossil collecting, as practiced by amateurs, is the predecessor of modern paleontology and many still collect fossils and study fossils as amateurs...
, and amateur paleontologist, specializing in trilobite
Trilobite
Trilobites are a well-known fossil group of extinct marine arthropods that form the class Trilobita. The first appearance of trilobites in the fossil record defines the base of the Atdabanian stage of the Early Cambrian period , and they flourished throughout the lower Paleozoic era before...
s.
His family, the Bourés, originally settled in Charlesbourg
Charlesbourg, Quebec
Founded in 1659, Charlesbourg is a borough of Quebec City, in the northeastern part of the city and West of the city of Beauport. Incorporated in 1976 following the merger of the cities of Orsainville, Notre-Dame-des-Laurentides, the town of Charlesbourg and the municipality of Charlesbourg-Est...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
in the 1660s and he is descended from King's Daughters
King's Daughters
The King's Daughters were between 700 and 900 Frenchwomen who immigrated to New France between 1663 and 1673 under the monetary sponsorship of Louis XIV. The government sponsored them so settlers in the colony could marry and start families to populate New France...
Anne Marie Bellehache
A close relative, Joseph Bourret
Joseph Bourret
Joseph Bourret was a 19th century Canadian lawyer, banker and politician.Bourret was educated at the Classical College at Nicolet, Quebec. After clerking for three years for his uncle, Bourret was admitted to the bar in 1823. He practiced law at his uncle's office for ten years...
, served as mayor of Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
and in the Union government of Lafontaine-Baldwin. He was Quebec's first francophone banker.
Bourrie's interest in shipwrecks was kindled by family stories of the loss of four of his paternal grandfather's cousins on the Sand Merchant on Lake Erie
Lake Erie
Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...
near Cleveland in 1936.