Barry Samuel Broadfoot, CM (January 21, 1926 – November 28, 2003) was a Canadian journalist and oral historian born in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

Biography

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 subjects, generally from across Canada, about their memories of their lives during specific historical periods such as the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. ''Ten Lost Years'', his first in this series of books, published in 1973, was an

oral history Oral history is the collection and study of historical information from people, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people who pa ...

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 The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, and is the larg ...

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 George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

, premiered in Toronto, toured Canada in 1974 and continues to be performed. In 1997, he was made a Member of the

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 ...

, Canada's highest civilian honour. In 1998, Broadfoot suffered a stroke, which blinded him and impaired his memory. He died in

Nanaimo, British Columbia Nanaimo ( ) is a city of about 100,000 on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. "The Harbour City" was previously known as the "Hub City", which was attributed to its original layout design with streets radiating fr ...

, on November 28, 2003.Uncredited
Oral historian Barry Broadfoot dies

CBC News CBC News is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC ...

, December 1, 2003. Retrieved 2016-08-17.

Selected bibliography

* ''Ten Lost Years'' 1973 (

Doubleday Doubleday may refer to: * Doubleday (surname), including a list of people with the name Publishing imprints * Doubleday (publisher), imprint of Knopf Doubleday, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House * Doubleday Canada, imprint of Penguin Random ...

) * ''Six War Years'' 1975 * ''The Pioneer Years'' 1976 * ''Years of Sorrow, Years of Shame'' 1977 * ''My Own Years'' 1983 * ''The Veterans' Years'' 1985 * ''The Immigrant Years.'' Douglas & McIntyre, Vancouver 1986 * ''Next-Year Country'' 1988 * ''Ordinary Russians'' 1989

References

External links

TERASEN LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD profile
1926 births 2003 deaths Journalists from Manitoba Members of the Order of Canada University of Manitoba alumni Writers from Winnipeg Oral historians {{Canada-nonfiction-writer-stub