Canada lost one of its premier storytellers on Monday. Pierre Berton died of heart failure at the age of 84. Berton was a colourful character, known for his garrulous, often contrarian personality and his natty, if often garish, suits usually set off by his trademark bow tie. He loomed over Canadian popular culture for decades as a journalist, broadcaster, and panelist on CBC's popular, long-running show, Front Page Challenge. But he gained his greatest fame and acclaim for his accounts of Canadian history. Before Berton came along, most Canadians thought their history was as dry as a Prairie drought. Berton repositioned it as a cavalcade of scoundrels, scamps and dreamers and infused it with new life. In books about the Klondike Gold Rush, the building of the Canadian railway and dozens more, Berton recounted the stories that helped give Canadians a sense of themselves, and the world a sense of Canada. After reading one of Berton's books--and I have read several, my favorite being the one about the Dionne quintuplets--it was difficult to chuckle at the old joke that Americans had suggested Canada, Our Northern Neigbour (a made-up title) as the world's most boring book. Berton made Canadian history a bracing journey full of adventure and incident, and it was exilarating to go along for the ride.

He will also be remembered for a famous quip that, in its own wry, unassuming way, also helped define us. "A Canadian," he said, "is someone who knows how to make love in a canoe." I like that.