Pierre Berton was born in the Yukon in 1920 and worked in the Klondike mining camps as a teenager before forging a career as a journalist and cultural commentator. He wrote 50 books, including many historical non-fiction titles, and won over 30 literary awards and many honorary degrees. Appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada in 1986, Berton died in 2004 at the age of 84.