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To two women, who dreamed and worked past what their bodies would easily allow them to do. Their examples gave me the inspiration to complete this work: Cathy Pyke, a determined fighter who came back from near death, and Jean Hutchinson (1910-1997), who wrote her history books, even while ill in bed, by tapping on an electric typewriter with two pencils to accommodate her arthritis.
Contents
4 Duty, Death
5 Nothing Will Be Impossible Unto You
6 Valley of Shadows
7 Holding the Pillars Together
8 The Price of Peace
9 Shadows Nearer, The Promise of New Dreams
Epilogue
Chronology of William Lyon Mackenzie King (1874-1950)
Acknowledgments
Selected Sources
Index
Grandfather. William Lyon Mackenzie
Mother. Isabel Mackenzie King.
Father. John King, K.C.
Laurier House, Ottawa
December 17, 1943
Best wishes on your birthday and God bless you and keep you in the best of health for your benefit and for the nations that have already benefitted where your name is written in their hearts and on their minds forever.
One of your loyal friends,
Mrs. Mabel Carlesso
Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King felt humbled to receive such a wonderful card for his sixty-ninth birthday. It was a moving tribute, a simple manifestation of trust. Yet, guiding the people of Canada so often felt like a burden, especially since the beginning of the war. With Christmas drawing nearer, King thought of the fighting men. His own nephew, Lyon King, had been killed, and King shuddered to think that many men might meet a similar fate. War raged abroad, but at home, English Canadians clamoured for overseas conscription while the people of Quebec were so strongly opposed to it that King feared civil war might befall his beloved country. Although he sometimes felt unsure and alone in the position of prime minister, King knew he had guidance. He felt those he loved, and who had left this earth, were still near him, assuring him that he was doing the will of God.
His life’s work was to help people. King put the flowered birthday card away and called for the dispatches. It was time to start his work for the day. It was time to address the problems of the Dominion of Canada, and indeed, the world.
But before King settled into reading the official documents before him, one of his secretaries, Dr. James Gibson, couldn’t help noticing the prime minister “beamed just a little.”
It was, after all, his birthday.
17. December, die Frau von John King in Berlin, einen Sohn.
Berlin, now known as Kitchener, was in 1874 a town of 3,000 in Southern Ontario. It had such a large Mennonite population that the Berliner, John’s uncle’s newspaper, announced the news in German. The birth announcement read: 17. December, to the wife of John King in Berlin, a son.
John King almost missed the event.
That day, John was dreaming of moving towards a brighter world. The elders of society might be nodding off to memories of the glory of the British Empire, but King was seated at a meeting, listening intently to a Reform Association speech. At a burst of applause, John spoke excitedly to the man beside him. “This man is a friend to liberty!”
Woodside, happy home of Willie, old Bill the horse, Bella, mother Isabel (seated), Jennie, Max (seated), and Fanny (who is hiding under the table).
A lawyer, newspaperman, and active Liberal politician, King admired reformers such as the speaker. He also held his wife’s father, William Lyon Mackenzie, in great esteem. Some people referred sneeringly to the leader of the Upper Canadian Rebellion of 1837 as a notorious rebel who had incited the people. King felt, however, Mackenzie was an example of those who fought for justice. As a newspaperman, mayor of York (which became Toronto), and a member of the Legislative Assembly, Mackenzie had witnessed the actions of the British government, which he felt were unfair in dealing with the people of the colony. He saw his fellow men as enslaved and oppressed at the hands of a few privileged people he dubbed the “Family Compact.” As an editor and politician he first tried to make changes peacefully, but by 1837 the time to seek reform quietly had passed. In 1837 Mackenzie urged armed action – rebellion!
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