Distinguished Guest
Ronald Wright
“Ronald Wright is an historical philosopher with a profound understanding of other cultures.”
—Jan Morris
Ronald Wright was born in England to a Canadian father and an English mother, and now lives in the Gulf Islands of British Columbia. “Although I spent my early years in England, I am the third generation of my family to live in BC,” he comments on his personal connection to the province.
“My grandfather came to the Okanagan from England in 1908, and became a teamster, logger, and apple grower. He built his own house in East Kelowna in 1913, and my father was born there soon afterwards. Last time I looked, the old place was still there, with another young family trying to make a living on 11 acres of apples. I've lived in various parts of Canada since 1970—Calgary, the Peace River country, Ontario—and moved to BC two years ago. No plans to move again; this feels like home.”
A novelist, historian and essayist, Ronald Wright has won awards in all three
genres, and is published around the world in twelve languages. Before becoming
a writer, he studied archaeology at Cambridge University and the University
of Calgary. His nonfiction books include the number-one bestsellers Stolen
Continents, a history of the Americas that won the Gordon Montador Award
and was chosen a book of the year by the Independent and the Sunday Times.
In 2004 he gave the prestigious CBC Massey Lectures, also published as the
bestselling book A Short History of Progress. Ronald Wright comments
on history and the future of British Columbia in the October 13, 2005 QuickTime
video Ronald
Wright: Lessons from Deep History [MP4 |
5:10].
Special Guests
Lisa Barrett, Mayor, Bowen Island Municipality
Priscilla Boucher, Director, Community Leadership Strategy, Sustainable Group, Vancity
Hank Bull, Executive Director, Vancouver Centre for Contemporary Asian Art
Brian Dolsen, Special Advisor, 2010 Legacies Now
Dermot Foley, Vice-President, Strategic Analysis, Real Assets Investment Management Inc.
Patricia Gallaugher, Director, Continuing Studies in Science; Adjunct Professor, Biosciences, Simon Fraser University
Cheeying Ho, Executive Director, Smart Growth BC
Richard Littlemore, Writer
Jamie MacDonald, Policy Advisor to the Honourable Stephen Owen, Western Economic Diversification Canada
Rudy North, President and Director, North Growth Foundation
Peter Pearse, Professor Emeritus, Economics and Forestry, University of British Columbia
Audrey Rivers, Elder, Squamish Nation
Milton Wong, CEO, HSBC Asset Management
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