Andrew Cohen - Extraordinary Canadians Lester B Pearson

When John Ralston Saul approached me to write a biography of Lester Pearson for this ambitious historical series he is editing for Penguin Canada, I was delighted to say yes. I have been intrigued by Pearson since I was a graduate student in international affairs, when I wrote my thesis on the failure of Quiet Diplomacy during the Vietnam War. Years later, I returned to Pearson in exploring the decline of Canadas internationalism in While Canada Slept: How We Lost Our Place in the World . To this volume of Extraordinary Canadians, John gently made sound suggestions on theme and structure, as well as offering an imaginative interpretation of Pearsons place in modern Canada. John Ralston Saul is an extraordinary Canadian himself.

I owe great thanks to Heather Sangster and the Strong Finish team, who edited the manuscript carefully, simplified unwieldy prose, and cheerfully shepherded the book through the production process. Graham Fraser, Canadas commissioner of official languages and a former journalist, shared his thoughts with me on the origins of official bilingualism. Colin Robertson, a diplomat and a devoted Pearsonian, kindly read the manuscript. Peter C. Newman, the author and journalist, happily answered my queries on the politics of the 1960s. Boo Leslie, the daughter of Brooke Claxton, graciously shared her memories of growing up in Pearsons Rockcliffe.

Geoffrey Pearson talked to me about his father, as he had often over the years. When I saw him last February, he was funny, tart, and unusually sentimental. He died unexpectedly shortly after our conversation. No son could have been more devoted to the memory and ideals of his father. This book is dedicated to him.

Landon Pearson reflected on the character of her father-in-law and his marriage to Maryon. She was generous, frank, and expansive in what was a difficult time for her, for which I am intensely grateful.

Having spent the last year in Berlin, I could not have written this biography without my superb research assistant, Kristina Roic, a writer and editor in Ottawa. This is our second collaboration on a book, and Kristina remains unfailingly thorough, reliable, and conscientious. She found out-of-print books, unearthed old magazine and newspaper articles, organized my visits to the National Archives, and shipped material across the Atlantic. She also reviewed the manuscript. Once again, she has been indispensable.

My deepest gratitude goes to my wife, Mary Gooderham, an author, journalist, and editor. There is no longer anything I write that Mary does not read before I submit it, demanding a standard of clarity and economy of writing that I seldom reach. Without her indulgence and love, this biography of Lester Pearson would not have come to be.

Andrew Cohen

June 27, 2008

Berlin

Big Bear by Rudy Wiebe

Lord Beaverbrook by David Adams Richards

Norman Bethune by Adrienne Clarkson

Emily Carr by Lewis DeSoto

Tommy Douglas by Vincent Lam

Glenn Gould by Mark Kingwell

Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine and Robert Baldwin by John Ralston Saul

Stephen Leacock by Margaret MacMillan

Nellie McClung by Charlotte Gray

Marshall McLuhan by Douglas Coupland

L.M. Montgomery by Jane Urquhart

Mordecai Richler by M.G. Vassanji

Louis Riel and Gabriel Dumont by Joseph Boyden

Pierre Elliott Trudeau by Nino Ricci

SERIES EDITOR:

John Ralston Saul