On Dec. 29, 2022, the Right Honourable Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada, announced 99 new appointments to the Order of Canada, including Ted Barris, C.M., “For advancing our understanding of Canadian military history as an acclaimed historical author, journalist and broadcaster.” Ted’s father, Alex Barris, was also appointed Member of the Order in 1998.
In December 2022, Jennifer O’Connell (MP for Pickering-Uxbridge) informed Ted, in celebration of Queen Elizabeth’s 70 years on the throne, that he is receiving the Platinum Jubilee Award. The citation in part reads: “Your peers have spoken, and you represent and inspire members of our community by demonstrating Her Majesty’s qualities of public service, dedication, and an unwavering commitment to improving our community. Thank you for your wonderful work.”
Photo by Sinisa Jolic/CBC On Dec. 4, 2019, the trustees of the Charles Taylor Foundation announced that jurors Margaret Atwood, Coral Ann Howells and Peter Theroux had determined the 12 non-fiction titles up for the 2020 RBC Taylor Prize. Among the long-list titles is Ted Barris’s 19th published non-fiction, Rush To Danger: Medics in the Line of Fire , published by Patrick Crean at HarperCollins Canada. “Distilling these diverse riches, embracing the social, personal, political and historical into a mere list,” the jury noted, “was a profound but rewarding challenge. Our list could have been much longer, and is longer than we were asked for! Readers globally can be thankful for a year of such exceptional Canadian contributions.”
(Photo by Matthew Wocks of Wounded Warriors) During a ceremony in front of Canada’s only airworthy Lancaster bomber, at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, in Hamilton, on Dec. 6, 2018, L/Col. Dean Black awarded the RCAF Association NORAD Trophy to Dam Busters: Canadian Airmen and the Secret Raid against Nazi Germany and its author, Ted Barris. Black explained that the trophy, inaugurated in 2008, was awarded, “in recognition of Ted Barris’s significant and unequalled contributions to the preservation of Air Force values and the maintenance of Air Force traditions, history and heritage.”
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During a gala ceremony in Toronto, on June 2, the annual Libris Awards were presented. Ted Barris’s book, “The Great Escape: A Canadian Story,” received the 2014 Libris Best Non-Fiction Book Award, sharing the honour with Chris Hadfield for his book “An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth.” In presenting the award, host Terry Fallis explained the criteria: “The award for non-fiction book of the year goes to a Canadian work of non-fiction published in 2013 that made a lasting impression on the Canadian book selling industry, through wide media attention, increased traffic to bookstores and strong sales.”
During an awards ceremony at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum on Oct. 14, 2012, Sen. Joseph Day presented Ted Barris with a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. The announcement issued with the award said, in part, “the medal is a visible and tangible way to recognize outstanding Canadians … who have built and continue to build this caring society and country through their service and achievements.”
[more…] Ted Barris has worked as a freelance journalist, broadcaster and author since the 1960s. He regularly contributes to CBC Radio programs and CTV News Channel. He taught journalism at Centennial College in Toronto for 18 years, and has written/published 19 non-fiction books (most recently Rush to Danger: Medics in the Line of Fire was a finalist for the RBC Taylor Prize). He has written a weekly newspaper column/weblog – the Barris Beat – for 40 years.