A Man & His Words

In this charming short biography of a consummate Canadian, Patrick Boyer recounts the life of his father Robert.

Bob Boyer became a newspaper editor at age 19 when the Great Depression forced him to leave high school and run the Muskoka Herald, his family's financially imperilled newspaper. For the rest of his 90-year life – as an author, journalist, researcher, editor, printer, and public speaker – the Muskokan’s life entwined with words written to inform and record, words read for work and for pleasure, and words spoken to influence the course of public affairs. 

He cherished music, books and newspapers, public service, and above all, the District of Muskoka. He was a church organist. He represented the District of Muskoka in the Ontario Legislature for 17 years. He was vice-chairman of Ontario Hydro, the province’s giant electricity utility. He became founding president of Santa’s Village at Bracebridge. He started more Muskoka newspapers – including the Georgian Bay Beacon and Muskoka Sun. He opened a retail bookstore on Bracebridge’s main street. He never stopped writing, publishing his twelfth book about Muskoka history at age 88, and continuing to pen articles until it was time to die. One way or another, his life was all about “words.”

Born in 1913, Robert Boyer died in 2005. A Man & His Words tells his story touchingly, with realism and humour, and is richly illustrated with photos, most not previously published.

Endorsement

“Written by a master of words, this book shows us a man who not only lived by words but used words to enhance the life of his community and its people. We are the country we are because of Canadians such as Robert Boyer.” – Reginald Stackhouse, M.P. and Canadian Representative to the United Nations

Details

Publisher: Muskoka Books & Dundurn, 2003
Category: Biography
ISBN: 1550024868
Price: $19.95, Canada and U.S.A.
Format: Paperback, 95 pages, 6 x 9 inches
Features: Foreword by Reginald Stackhouse, 64 photographs