Francis, Daniel

I was born in Vancouver in 1947 under the sign of the ram. At the University of British Columbia I grew disenchanted with my political science studies, stumbled into English thinking it might be more fun to spend my time reading novels, and graduated with what the British might call a third-class degree. Moving to Ottawa I worked as a newspaper journalist for a couple of years before obtaining an MA in Canadian Studies from Carleton University. I credit Tom Wolfe with deciding my future. I read on the back cover of The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test that he had a degree in American Studies and I thought that if that is what prepared him to write such fabulous books, perhaps I should give Canadian Studies a try. I had always wanted to be a writer but it was at graduate school that I discovered a subject to write about – Canadian history – and I have been doing so ever since. (Tom Wolfe, on the other hand, turned out to be a youthful enthusiasm; I have been unable to read one of his books for years.)

From 1984 to 1987 I served as the editorial director of Horizon Canada, a bilingual illustrated history of Canada published from Montreal in weekly magazine format. When that project wound down, I moved with my family back to the Vancouver area.

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