RANDOM HOUSE ANNOUNCES NEWMAN'S NEW BOOK ON IGNATIEFF

See. What did I tell you three days ago? You can say you read it here first.


"Peter C. Newman to write Michael Ignatieff biography"

TORONTO, May 6 /CNW/ - Random House Canada is proud to announce that it has signed veteran journalist and author Peter C. Newman to write the firstfull-length biography of Liberal leader, prime ministerial contender and public intellectual Michael Ignatieff.

Newman, with more than fifty years of thinking and writing about Canada's business and political leaders behind him, is delighted with the opportunity the new book will give him to stop and think about what the torrent of news and views breaking around Ignatieff really means, what all the tumult and promise of his life and times adds up to, and how to place him in the Canadian political landscape. "I want to write about Ignatieff because he's the most interesting political figure in Canada today, and while he has written many books himself, including a family memoir and autobiographical novels, nobody has written a full biography of him," Newman says. "We haven't had a political leader whose intellect is his defining characteristic since Trudeau, and it's fascinating to watch the ways in which a man like Ignatieff reaches out to rebuild theparty and create relationships with voters. He has a real shot at becoming ournext prime minister. If he makes it, he'll be in a position to affect this country's destiny, and I feel it's important to have a creative look at him."

Anne Collins, Newman's Editor and the Publisher of Random House Canada, is delighted at the pairing of author and subject. "As June Callwood once pointed out, Peter C. Newman invented 'realism in political writing in Canada' with his book Renegade in Power. Almost five decades on from that ground-breaking book on Diefenbaker, he's about to apply the full Newman treatment to a man with one of the most unusual trajectories in Canadian politics, a true public intellectual suddenly vying in that most brutal courtof public opinion - electoral and party politics - and vying well. I can't wait to see what Newman makes of Ignatieff. I can guarantee it will be an account that will surprise and captivate us all."

Peter C. Newman has been writing about Canadian politics for nearly a half a century, including books on Prime Ministers John Diefenbaker, Lester B.Pearson, Pierre Elliott Trudeau and Brian Mulroney. The author of twenty-four books that have sold more than two million copies, Newman has won a half-dozenof the country's most illustrious literary awards. In addition, he has received two Orders of Canada and has been promoted to Companion from Officer. A former editor-in-chief of the Toronto Star and Maclean's, Newman has been honoured with a National Newspaper Award and has been elected to the News Hall of Fame.

Peter C. Newman's biography of Michael Ignatieff, as yet untitled, will be published in Fall 2010.

READ ALL ABOUT IT: NEWMAN'S NEXT BOOK WILL BE ABOUT IGGY

His next book

will be about him

Making the short walk from the extraordinary new Vancouver Convention Center to my hotel room at the Pan Pacific I passed a stooped gentleman in a Greek Fisherman’s cap gingerly making his way towards the same hotel. Given that there is only one Canadian I know of who wears a Greek Fisherman’s cap, I figured as I overtook him that it must be Peter C. Newman. I quickly glanced back and discovered that indeed it was the great man himself. Never having met him before but knowing that we had a mutual friend, I introduced myself and spoke of our common acquaintance. Naturally, I also told him that I was a great fan and had read most of his seventeen books.

Newman is a giant of Canadian letters. From his first work, ‘Flame of Power,’ published in 1959 to his most recent seventeenth, ‘Izzy,’ published last year, together with countless newspaper and magazine pieces he has written since the fifties, the prolific Newman has entertained and informed his readers about Canada and Canadians as few others. Thus, I was thrilled to be talking to him.

Of course, I asked him what he thought of the new Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff who had just finished delivering his acceptance speech a few minutes before. Newman enthusiastically sang his praises. He said that the party had made a very wise choice, and were now poised to take it all in the next election. He was happy with the quality of Iggy's message and was convinced that the Grits had turned the corner after a very bad time and were on their way to restoration under the new leadership. As a matter of fact, Newman said, he was so fascinated by the life and personality of the new leader – and here is a scoop for all of you out there who follow these things – his next book was going to be a biography of Michael Grant Ignatieff.


We entered the hotel from street level, which requires taking two escalators to get to the lobby. The first escalator was in mechanically good order but the second was not working. I thought that Newman, who is only days from turning 80, had been walking very slowly and tentatively towards the hotel and may have difficulty making his way up the long flight of steps. But with a resurgence of energy he bounded up the stairs as fast as I. Perhaps he was inspired by remembering a few licks from a Stan Kenton jazz recording (He writes best listening to Kenton’s big band music), or perhaps he was thinking about writing the first biography on someone who is sure to become the next Prime Minister of Canada. In any event, Newman is a true Canadian icon, a national treasure, and a helluva writer.