John Murray Gibbon described himself as a publicist, and although the term falls short of encompassing all his published work, it does fit much of it. Between 1907 and 1945 he worked as a publicity agent for the Canadian Pacific Railway, eventually writing the history of the company, Steel of Empire (1935). Yet he also published verse, children's stories, romantic novels, and semi-sociological surveys of new immigrants to Canada. His writing career was long, eclectic, and prolific and saw him elected the founding president of the Canadian Authors' Association in 1921 and a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1922. Despite these achievements, as well as an honorary LL.D. from the University of Montreal a Lorne Pierce Gold Medal from the Royal Society, a Prix David from the province of Quebec, and a Governor General's Award for nonfiction, Gibbon has remained a minor figure in Canadian literature.

Gibbon was born...