The Player: The Life and Times of Dalton Camp

Dalton Camp had three brilliant careers: advertising made him wealthy; politics made him famous and brought him within reach of the prime minister’s office; and journalism gave him far-reaching influence across Canada.

Exceptional as he was, Dalton Camp reflected the values that most Canadians hold dear. He stood resolutely against the forces of bigotry, intolerance and extremism. As a writer, he became the witty and powerful voice of moderation in public affairs, a shrewd spokesman for the thoughtful centre- always intelligent and unfailingly democratic.

Raised in his formative years in the United States, he loved Americans more than he trusted them. He railed against the "Real Right" – whether it was the Republican Party in Washington or the Canadian Alliance in Ottawa. He distrusted both George Bushes, most members of the corporate elite, including "Lord Almost" (Conrad Black), Paul Martin, and even, from time to time, his own one-time acolyte and eventual boss, Brian Mulroney.

Dalton Camp will be remembered in Canadian political history as the man who brought democracy to the Conservative Party and ended the leadership of John Diefenbaker. In his prime, Dalton Camp came within 48 hours of announcing his own leadership bid. When circumstances conspired to deny his ambition, Camp shifted gears and careers. In his later years, he retreated to his beloved New Brunswick where he lived the life of a reclusive writer. Yet the more he tried to cut himself off from the the outside world, the greater his influence grew. Prime ministers phoned to seek his advice, provincial premiers dropped by and backroom politicians relied on his guidance.

By the time he died in 2002, at the age of 81, Dalton Camp had made and indelible mark on the public landscape of Canada. A conservative with a liberal conscience, he left a void that no one has come close to filling.

Drawing on exclusive access to Dalton Camp’s unpublished writings, including an unfinished memoir, archival and family papers, along with thousands of newspaper columns and scores of interviews with family members and colleagues, Geoffrey Stevens tells the story of a remarkable life in politics and journalism – the professional triumphs, personal heartbreak and frustrated ambitions of one of the great players in Canadian public life.