Ted Barris (born July 12, 1949, in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

and broadcaster. He writes a weekly column, "The Barris Beat", and is a regular contributor to ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'' and the ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper and the flagship publication of the American-owned Postmedia Network. It is published Mondays through Saturdays, with Monday released as a digital e-edition only.

''. His non-fiction works focus on Canada's military heritage. Barris has authored 18 books.

Early years

Barris was born in Toronto in 1949; his father,

Alex Barris Alex Paul Barris, (September 16, 1922 – January 15, 2004) was an American-born Canadian television actor and writer. Member of ACTRA, he was a writer and panelist for the game show ''Front Page Challenge''.

was a well-known Canadian author and broadcaster, and inspired his son's career in writing and broadcasting. In grade school, he wanted to become a writer with his first research for a term paper, "The Causes of the War of 1812", leading to his elementary school teacher (Mike Malott) encouraging him. Barris became interested in history and historical writing, a genre that would dominate his later writing career.

Writing career

While attending high school, Barris began his writing career. He contributed stories on school activities to the neighbourhood weekly, the ''Agincourt Mirror'', and earned spending money. Barris graduated from

Ryerson Polytechnical Institute Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU, or Toronto Met), formerly Ryerson University, is a Public university, public research university located in Toronto, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Gar ...

’s three-year Radio and Television Arts program in 1971."Member profile: Ted Barris"
''Writers Union of Canada''. Retrieved: April 23, 2015. Throughout his time at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute, Barris had a part-time job at CJRT-FM, hosting the weekend all-night show. He also occasionally appeared on

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

as a news reader. During this period, he began to explore documentary subjects, co-writing and co-producing half a dozen programs for CBC Radio's weekend youth program, ''Action Set''. Concentrating on a career in writing and broadcasting, in the 1970s, Barris wrote freelance music reviews for ''

'' and other industry magazines, including ''Wingit'', ''Pop'' and ''Grapevine''. He also wrote for ''Canadian Composer'', ''RPM Magazine'', ''Rolling Stone'' (San Francisco), ''Film News'' and ''Country Sky''. Barris considered a staff position with Warner Bros. Records but chose to work at the University of Saskatchewan, writing, directing and editing educational TV. A short documentary film he wrote and directed on noise pollution won the White Owl Conservation Award (Montreal) in 1973. After returning to Ryerson Polytechnical Institute, Barris graduated in 1976 with a degree in the Bachelor of Applied Arts program. While in Saskatchewan, he completed the research that led to his first book, ''Fire Canoe: Prairie Steamboat Days Revisited'', as well as to his decision to concentrate on a freelance career. For the next two decades, Barris travelled throughout Canada on various assignments, alternately working for CBC Radio and

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

, as well as appearing on television programs as host and broadcaster, while continuing his career in Canadian historical non-fiction. While residing in Alberta, Barris continued writing based on local subjects before beginning a number of books on military subjects, an area of speciality that now is the focus of his work."Guest: Ted Barris."
''TVO''. Retrieved: April 23, 2015. Barris is a retired professor of

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

. He taught at

's Centennial College. He resides in

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon, northwest of Charing Cross. Uxbridge formed part of the parish of Hillingdon in the county of Middlesex. As part ...

.Barris, Ted
"Twits and the Twitter-verse."
''The Barris Beat'', 2015. Retrieved: April 23, 2015.

Awards

* 2015 – Certificate of Honor from Stalag Luft III Prisoners of War Association * 2014 – Libris Award (Best Non-Fiction) (shared with Chris Hadfield) * 2006 – Bear Hackle Award, by the 78th Fraser Highlanders (Canadian) Regiment * 1993 – Canada 125 Medal “For service to Canada and community.” * 2022 –

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

(Member)

Selected bibliography

*''Dam Busters: Canadian Airmen and The Secret Raid Against Nazi Germany'' (2018) *''Fire Canoe: Prairie Steamboat Days Revisited 2nd Edition'' (1977) *''The Great Escape: A Canadian Story'' (2013) *''Victory at Vimy: Canada Comes of Age, April 9–12, 1917'' (2007) *''Juno: Canadians at D-Day June 6, 1944'' (2004) *''Deadlock in Korea : Canadians at War, 1950–1953'' (1998) *''Playing Overtime: A Celebration of Oldtimers Hockey'' (1995) *''Days of Victory: Canadians Remember, 1939–1945'' (1995) *''Behind the Glory: Canada's Role in the Allied Air War'' (1992) *

References

External links

Author's website

"Voices of war", ''The Globe and Mail''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barris, Ted 1949 births CBC Radio hosts Living people People from Uxbridge, Ontario Toronto Metropolitan University alumni Writers from Toronto Members of the Order of Canada