William Andrew "Bill" Waiser (born 1953) is a Canadian historian and author specializing in western and northern

Canadian history The history of Canada covers the period from the arrival of the Paleo-Indians to North America thousands of years ago to the present day. The lands encompassing present-day Canada have been inhabited for millennia by Indigenous peoples, with di ...

Career and honours

Waiser grew up 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 ...

but developed an interest in western Canadian history through visiting his grandparents'

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 ...

homestead each summer. His father had been a transient worker on the Prairies during 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 ...

before settling in Ontario after the Second World War. Waiser studied history at

Trent University Trent University is a public liberal arts university in Peterborough, Ontario, with a satellite campus in Oshawa, which serves the Regional Municipality of Durham. Founded in 1964, the university is known for its Oxbridge college system, sma ...

under renowned Manitoba historian W. L. Morton. Waiser completed his graduate work at the

University of Saskatchewan The University of Saskatchewan (U of S, or USask) is a Universities in Canada, Canadian public university, public research university, founded on March 19, 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatch ...

(U of S), earning his master's in 1976 and doctorate in 1983. He was Yukon Historian for the Canadian Parks Service before joining the Department of History at the U of S in 1984. He served as department head from 1995 to 1998. Waiser received the College of Arts and Science Teaching Excellence Award in 2003 and was named the university's Distinguished Researcher at the spring 2004 convocation. He was awarded the

Saskatchewan Order of Merit The Saskatchewan Order of Merit is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Instituted in 1985 by Lieutenant Governor Frederick Johnson, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier Grant Devine, the order is admi ...

, the province's highest honour, in 2006, and elected a fellow of the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; , SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities, and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bilingual council of distinguishe ...

the following year. Bill retired from the university in 2014. He was invested as 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 ...

in 2018. The same year, he was awarded the Royal Society's J. B. Tyrrell Historical Medal, the first U of S historian to receive the honour since A. S. Morton in 1941. He also received the Pierre Berton Award for achievement in popular history in 2018. In 2020, Waiser was honoured with a lifetime achievement award for Prairie history by the

Canadian Historical Association The Canadian Historical Association (CHA; , SHC) is a Canadian organization founded in 1922 for the purposes of promoting historical research and scholarship. It is a bilingual, not-for-profit, charitable organization, the largest of its kind in ...

(CHA). In 2021, he won the Cheryl and Henry Kloppenburg Award for Literary Excellence for his impact on writing in Saskatchewan, for which the nominator wrote, "I think he is one of Saskatchewan's most important and accomplished writers." Waiser's books have won numerous awards. ''All Hell Can't Stop Us: The On-to-Ottawa Trek and Regina Riot'' won the 2003 Saskatchewan Book Award (SBA) for non-fiction. His centennial history of

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

, ''Saskatchewan: A New History'', won the CHA's 2006 Clio Prize as the best book in Prairie History. ''A World We Have Lost: Saskatchewan Before 1905'' won the 2016

Governor General's Literary Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the governor general of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...

for Non-Fiction as well as that year's SBA non-fiction award. He had previously been nominated for the award in 1997 for ''Loyal till Death: Indians and the North-West Rebellion'', co-written with Blair Stonechild. In 2023, Waiser had his first children's book published through

Thistledown Press Thistledown Press is an independent literary publisher based in Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River ...

. ''Gordie's Skate'' tells the story of hockey legend

Gordie Howe Gordon Howe (March 31, 1928 – June 10, 2016) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. From 1946 to 1980, he played 26 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) and six seasons in the World Hockey Association (WHA); his first 25 seaso ...

's family acquiring a pair of skates during the Great Depression in Saskatchewan.

Selected works

* ''Gordie's Skate'' (Saskatoon:

, 2023) * ''In Search of Almighty Voice: Resistance and Reconciliation'' (Markham: Fifth House Publishers, 2020) * ''A World We Have Lost: Saskatchewan Before 1905'' (Markham: Fifth House Publishers, 2016) * ''Tommy's Team: The People Behind the Douglas Years'', with Stuart Houston (Calgary: Fifth House Publishers, 2010) * ''Who Killed Jackie Bates? Murder and Mercy during the Great Depression'' (Calgary: Fifth House Publishers, 2008) * ''Saskatchewan: A New History'' (Calgary: Fifth House Publishers, 2005) * ''All Hell Can't Stop Us: The On-to-Ottawa Trek and Regina Riot'' (Calgary: Fifth House Publishers, 2003) * ''Loyal till Death: Indians and the North-West Rebellion'', with Blair Stonechild (Calgary: Fifth House Publishers, 1997) * ''Park Prisoners: The Untold Story of Western Canada's National Parks'' (Saskatoon: Fifth House Publishers, 1995) * ''Saskatchewan's Playground: A History of Prince Albert National Park'' (Saskatoon: Fifth House Publishers, 1989)

References

External links

*
Former website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waiser, Bill 1953 births 20th-century Canadian historians 21st-century Canadian historians Canadian male non-fiction writers Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Governor General's Award–winning non-fiction writers Living people Members of the Saskatchewan Order of Merit Trent University alumni University of Saskatchewan alumni Academic staff of the University of Saskatchewan Writers from Saskatchewan