The pipeline project never went ahead. A Royal Commission established by the Diefenbaker government to examine the state of the energy industry in Canada recommended that the producers of Alberta crude look for new markets outside of Canada and thus leave the Montreal refineries free to continue buying less expensive oil from such places as Venezuela and the Middle East. Brown and his fellow independent producers had argued that the pipeline would open up an important new market for western crude and restore economic viability to the industry. But the commission sided with the American multinationals, who claimed the Montreal refineries (that they owned) would suffer severe hardship if the government forced them to substitute “expensive” Canadian crude for “cheap” oil from foreign sources.

Brown’s takeover of TransCanada did proceed. But it was an expensive blunder that cost Home Oil more than $8 million when TransCanada share prices dropped. That left Gray with no pay raise, no stock options, and what he now viewed as an inconsequential public relations job at Home Oil. Facing a future in which he would have nothing to do but “attend meetings, drink coffee and read the newspapers,” Gray began looking for a way to get back to what he called “the only thing a writer should ever do, because it is the only thing he can ever do: write.”

He found his opportunity five years later, at the end of 1963. With money coming in from his investments in the oil patch, and from his investment in a Calgary strip mall, Gray resigned from Home Oil and began writing a book. It was called The Winter Years and it dealt with the hardships suffered by many western Canadians, including Gray himself, during the Depression. It was published in 1966, when Gray turned 60, and was the first of many bestselling books about Prairie history that he would write during the next 25 years. The most successful of these was Red Lights on the Prairies, which told the story of prostitution in the frontier West. In it, Gray quipped that if other historians were to be believed, only “monks, eunuchs and vestal virgins” had settled the West. Other popular Gray titles included Booze, Troublemaker! and The Roar of the Twenties. All told, they sold more than 400,000 copies and brought Gray three honorary doctorates, the Order of Canada, and the honour of being appointed adjunct professor of history at the University of Calgary. When he died, in November 1998 at age 92, Gray’s contributions to popular history were recognized in newspapers and magazines from coast to coast.

Brian Brennan’s biography of Gray, How the West was Written: The Life and Times of James H. Gray, is being published this month by Fifth House Ltd. to coincide with the 100th anniversary of Gray’s birth.

Pages: 1 2 3 4

Related Posts

• Petroleum History Society of Canada puts the 2008 economic crash in perspective
• Weaning consumers off fossil fuels is no quick fix
• Profile: Iain Munro
• The Story of Canada’s Oldest Oil Company
• The History of the Conservation Board