Donald Wright

Why Donald Creighton? It was his writing that first captivated me. I remember reading Canada’s First Century as an undergraduate and being overwhelmed by its author’s capacity to braid so many themes into a seamless, compelling, fast-moving narrative. Later, as a graduate student, I had an opportunity to consult his papers at the National Archives (now Library and Archives Canada). Over the course of that long, hot summer, the man himself captivated me. In him were a host of contradictions: insight and blindness; generosity and pettiness; strength and fragility. His life, meanwhile, conformed to a fascinating narrative arc: the great historian who became a pariah in his own country. He once told Eugene Forsey that “Nobody would want to write a proper biography of me.” I decided then and there that one day I would write a proper biography of Donald Grant Creighton.