Biography of Sir John A. Macdonald wins literary award

Journalist and commentator Richard Gwyn has won the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction for his biography of Canada's first prime minister.

John A.:The Man Who Made Us: The Life and Times of John A. Macdonald was named as the winner of the award for the best of Canadian non-fiction at a luncheon in Toronto on Monday.

Much has been written about Canada's first prime minister, including hisbattles with alcohol and his significance both as one of theFathers of Confederation and a builder of Canada's railroads.

Gwyn told CBC News he found as he researched hewas uncovering "new levels of [Macdonald's] personality."

An example is a letter Macdonald wrote expressingadmiration for the Salvation Army.

"Canada by the 1880swas in economic trouble and the Salvation Army was stepping in and doing important work among men who were out of work," Gwyn said. Macdonald not onlyheld the church up as an example,he also checked out its work.

"He went down to Kingston and saw the Salvation Army camp there to see how it worked," Gwyn said.

Gwyn spent two years reading everything Macdonald had written and all records of his speeches to write the book, the first of a two-volume biography of the prime minister.

The second volume is due for release in 2010.

His research changed his perception not just of the man, but of his legacy.

'Sheer elegance' of writing

"I argue that Confederation was not his most important decision. His most important decision was not to become American. That's what he talked about at the time. That was what was being discussed," Gwyn said.

Jury member J.B. MacKinnon said the jury selected Gwyn's book because of the "sheer elegance of Gwyn's writing and the restraint he showed, when he was working with so much information, in selecting just what would interest the reader."

Gwyn gives a more complete picture of Sir John A. Macdonald's psychology than earlier biographers, as well as readjusting our picture of his legacy, he said.

"We have to keep reassessing his [Macdonald's]story," MacKinnon added. "Both his character as a man and the achievements that he aspired to continually evolve."

The $25,000 Charles Taylor Prizeis presented by the Charles Taylor Foundation, named for one of Canada's foremost essayists.