# Linden MacIntyre

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Canadian journalist, broadcaster and novelist

Linden MacIntyre Macintyre in May 2008 Born Linden Joseph MacIntyre[1] (1943-05-29) May 29, 1943 (age 83) St. Lawrence, Dominion of Newfoundland Occupation Writer, broadcaster, journalist Period 1964 - present Genre Non-fiction, fiction Notable works The Bishop's Man, Who Killed Ty Conn Notable awards 2009 Scotiabank Giller Prize 2010 Libris Fiction Book of the Year Award Spouse Carol Off (m. 2000) Children 5

**Linden Joseph MacIntyre** (born May 29, 1943) is a [Canadian](/source/Canadians) journalist, broadcaster and novelist. He has won ten[2] [Gemini Awards](/source/Gemini_Award), an [International Emmy](/source/International_Emmy) and numerous other awards for writing and journalistic excellence, including the 2009 [Scotiabank Giller Prize](/source/Scotiabank_Giller_Prize) for his 2009 novel, *[The Bishop's Man](/source/The_Bishop's_Man)*. Well known for many years for his stories on [CBC](/source/Canadian_Broadcasting_Corporation)'s *[The Fifth Estate](/source/The_Fifth_Estate_(TV))*, in 2014 he announced his retirement from the show at age 71. His final story, broadcast on November 21, 2014, was "The Interrogation Room" about police ethics and improper interrogation room tactics.[3]

## Life and career

One of three children of Dan Rory MacIntyre and Alice Donohue, he was raised in [Port Hastings, Nova Scotia](/source/Port_Hastings%2C_Nova_Scotia). The Donohue family was from [Bay St. Lawrence](/source/Bay_St._Lawrence), a small fishing community in northern Cape Breton, who were originally from Ireland. As a miner, his father was rarely at home. MacIntyre has said, "The old fellow decided the family would stay in the community and he would go away and stay as long as it took. ... My mother was a teacher and my sisters and I stayed with her."[4]

After high school, MacIntyre moved to [Antigonish, Nova Scotia](/source/Antigonish%2C_Nova_Scotia), where in 1964 he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from [St. Francis Xavier University](/source/St._Francis_Xavier_University). He also studied at [St. Mary's University](/source/Saint_Mary's_University_(Halifax)) and the [University of King's College](/source/University_of_King's_College) in Halifax. From 1964 to 1967 he worked for the [Halifax Herald](/source/The_Chronicle_Herald) as a parliamentary reporter in Ottawa. He continued in the same role with the *Financial Times of Canada* from 1967 to 1970. He was drawn back to [Cape Breton](/source/Cape_Breton_Island) after the death of his father in 1970 and for the next six years he lived there and worked as a correspondent for the *Chronicle Herald*.

He joined the [Canadian Broadcasting Corporation](/source/Canadian_Broadcasting_Corporation) in Halifax in 1976 and for three years he hosted a regional public affairs show called *The MacIntyre File*. It was with this program that he launched a successful legal challenge before the [Supreme Court of Nova Scotia](/source/Supreme_Court_of_Nova_Scotia) over access to affidavits and documents relating to search warrants. Later heard before the Supreme Court of Canada, the successful suit was a landmark case which set a precedent in support of public and media access to information in Canada.[5]

In 1980, MacIntyre moved to Toronto, where he still resides, to work as a producer and journalist and in 1981 he joined CBC's new flagship news program, *[The Journal](/source/The_Journal_(Canadian_TV_series))*.

His work took him around the world preparing documentary reports on international affairs, preparing such notable features as 1981's "Dirty Sky, Dying Water" (about acid rain). From 1986 to 1988 he was host and national editor of [CBC Radio](/source/CBC_Radio)'s flagship show, *[Sunday Morning](/source/Sunday_Morning_(radio_program))*. In 1990 he was named co-host of the weekly investigative newsmagazine *[the fifth estate](/source/The_Fifth_Estate_(TV))*, with which he remained until 2014. In addition, he has been a frequent guest host of *[The Current](/source/The_Current_(radio_program))* on [CBC Radio One](/source/CBC_Radio_One).

In 2014, MacIntyre decided to retire both to help spare at least one younger colleague from the pending 657 job cuts from the CBC and to illustrate the effect of the considerable budget cuts the CBC is enduring.[6]

### Stories

For *the fifth estate*, he has written numerous investigative reports often with producer Neil Docherty. Many of the shows have also appeared on *[Frontline](/source/Frontline_(U.S._TV_series))*. Examples of his stories include:

- "[To Sell a War](/source/To_Sell_a_War)" (1992). The film is about a public relations campaign to gain public opinion support for the First Gulf War. It won an International Emmy and a Gemini Award.

- "The Trouble With Evan" (1994). This film, about the psychological abuse of a child by his parents, was introduced by MacIntyre when first broadcast as the saddest story he ever had to tell. Winner of an Anik Award, it was removed from competition at the Cannes Film Festival and banned in Canada for several years due to court orders on behalf of some of the subjects.[7][8][9]

- "His Word Against History: The [Stephen Truscott](/source/Stephen_Truscott) Story" (2000). It was a co-recipient (with other *fifth estate* documentaries) of the Michener Award for meritorious public service journalism.

- "The Scandal of the Century" (2001) about false accusations of sexual abuse in Saskatchewan (see Sheila Steele).

- "Terror and Tehran" (2002) about US policy in Iran. [Transcript of an online discussion about the program from *The Washington Post*](https://web.archive.org/web/20080528190854/http://discuss.washingtonpost.com/zforum/02/tv_frontline050302.htm))

- "Toxic Company" (with *Frontline* and *New York Times Television*, 2003). An exposé of [McWane](/source/McWane), it won a Dupont/Columbia Silver Baton, the George Polk Award, the George Foster Peabody Award and the CBC's Wilderness award. The accompanying *New York Times* series, "Dangerous Business", won a Pulitzer Prize.

- "A Hail of Bullets" (2005) about the [Mayerthorpe tragedy](/source/Mayerthorpe_tragedy).

- "Brian Mulroney: The Unauthorized Chapter" (2007) about the [Airbus affair](/source/Airbus_affair).

## Personal life

During a fifty-day lockout by the CBC in 2005,[10] MacIntyre penned a memoir called *Causeway: A Passage from Innocence*, which he dedicated to his mother. He has five children including CBC New Brunswick producer Darrow MacIntyre. He married broadcaster [Carol Off](/source/Carol_Off) in 2000.[11]

## Publications

### Novels

Linden MacIntyre talks about The Bishop's Man on Bookbits radio.

His first three novels are called his Cape Breton Trilogy:[12]

- *[The Long Stretch](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Long_Stretch&action=edit&redlink=1)*, 1999

- *[The Bishop's Man](/source/The_Bishop's_Man)*, 2009 - Winner of the 2009 [Scotiabank Giller Prize](/source/Scotiabank_Giller_Prize) - Winner of the 2010 Libris Fiction Book of the Year Award.[13]

- *[Why Men Lie](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Why_Men_Lie&action=edit&redlink=1)*, 2012[12]

- *[Punishment](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Punishment_(novel)&action=edit&redlink=1)*, 2014[14]

- *[The Only Café](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Only_Caf%C3%A9&action=edit&redlink=1)*, 2017

- *[The Winter Wives](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Winter_Wives&action=edit&redlink=1)*, 2021

### Non-fiction

- *Who Killed [Ty Conn](/source/Ty_Conn)* (with [Theresa Burke](/source/Theresa_Burke)), 2001

- *[Causeway: A Passage from Innocence](/source/Causeway%3A_A_Passage_from_Innocence)*, 2006

- *The Wake: The Deadly Legacy of a [Newfoundland Tsunami](/source/1929_Grand_Banks_earthquake)*, 2019

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [Honorary Degree Recipients: Linden Joseph MacIntyre](https://www.cbu.ca/alumni/honorary-degree-recipients/linden-joseph-macintyre/) Cape Breton University

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Linden MacIntyre leaves CBC's the fifth estate"](https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/television/2014/05/07/linden_macintyre_leaves_cbcs_the_fifth_estate.html). *[Toronto Star](/source/Toronto_Star)*. 7 May 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** On May 8, 2014, MacIntyre announced he would retire from the fifth estate citing budget cuts at the CBC.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [Quoted by Tim Christison in Wordfest, FFWD (Calgary)](http://www.ffwdweekly.com/Issues/2006/1005/wordfest5.htm) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20070827123325/http://www.ffwdweekly.com/Issues/2006/1005/wordfest5.htm) 2007-08-27 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["*Newswire*"](http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2008/13/c3663.html).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Kane, Laura (8 May 2014). ["Linden MacIntyre, Alison Smith retiring to save jobs for young journalists at CBC"](https://montrealgazette.com/entertainment/Linden+MacIntyre+retiring+save+jobs+young+journalists/9818704/story.html). *Montreal Gazette*. Retrieved 8 May 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Noted by Charles Levin and Christine Ury in "Welcoming Big Brother: The Malaise of Confidentiality in the Therapeutic Culture" in Christine M. Koggel, Charles Levin and Allannah Furlong, editors, *Confidential Relationships: Psychoanalytic, Ethical, and Legal Contexts*, Rodopi Press, 2003, p. 78

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["BFI | Film & TV Database | The TROUBLE WITH EVAN (1995)"](https://web.archive.org/web/20081023090118/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/530184). October 23, 2008. Archived from [the original](http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/530184) on 23 October 2008.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Goodman, Walter (June 21, 1994). ["Review/Television; Filming the Life of a Troubled Family"](https://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/21/arts/review-television-filming-the-life-of-a-troubled-family.html). *The New York Times*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** [*Wordfest*](http://www.ffwdweekly.com/Issues/2006/1005/wordfest5.htm) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20070827123325/http://www.ffwdweekly.com/Issues/2006/1005/wordfest5.htm) 2007-08-27 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["Causeway"](https://kcdyer.blogspot.com/2008/03/causeway.html).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Flinn_12-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Flinn_12-1) Sue Carter Flinn, ["Random House Canada acquires new Linden MacIntyre novel"](https://www.quillandquire.com/blog/index.php/2011/03/11/random-house-canada-acquires-new-linden-macintyre-novel/), *Quill and Quire*, March 11, 2011

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** [Canadian Booksellers Association](http://www.cbabook.org/libris-currentwinners.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20100925112033/http://www.cbabook.org/libris-currentwinners.html) 2010-09-25 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine), May 29, 2010

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** Dundas, Deborah (21 November 2014). ["Linden MacIntyre on community, vengeance and punishment"](https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2014/11/21/linden_macintyre_on_community_vengeance_and_punishment.html). *Toronto Star Books*. Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd. Retrieved 22 November 2014.

## External links

- [CBC profile](http://www.cbc.ca/75/2011/10/linden-macintyre-affirming-press-freedom.html), October 2011

- [Linden MacIntyre](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0532878/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier))

v t e Winners of the Edna Staebler Award 1990s Susan Mayse, Ginger (1991) Marie Wadden, Nitassinan, (1992) Liza Potvin, White Lies (for my mother) and Elizabeth Hay, The Only Snow in Havana (1993) Linda Johns, Sharing a Robin's Life (1994) Denise Chong, The Concubine's Children (1995) George G. Blackburn, The Guns of Normandy (1996) Anne Mullens, Timely Death (1997) Charlotte Gray, Mrs. King (1998) Michael Poole, Romancing Mary Jane (1999) 2000s Wayson Choy, Paper Shadows (2000) Taras Grescoe, Sacré Blues (2001) Tom Allen, Rolling Home (2002) Alison Watt, The Last Island (2003) Andrea Curtis, Into the Blue (2004) Anne Coleman, I'll Tell You a Secret (2005) Francis Chalifour, After (2006) Linden MacIntyre, Causeway (2007) Bruce Serafin, Stardust (2008) Russell Wangersky, Burning Down the House (2009) 2010s John Leigh Walters, A Very Capable Life (2010) Helen Waldstein Wilkes, Letters from the Lost (2011) Joshua Knelman, Hot Art (2012) Carol Shaben, Into the Abyss (2013) Arno Kopecky, The Oil Man and the Sea: Navigating the Northern Gateway (2014) Lynn Thomson, Birding with Yeats (2015) Ann Walmsley, The Prison Book Club (2016) Sonja Larsen, Red Star Tattoo (2017) Pauline Dakin, Run, Hide, Repeat: A Memoir of a Fugitive Childhood (2018) Kate Harris, Lands of Lost Borders: Out of Bounds on the Silk Road (2019) 2020s Ann Hui, Chop Suey Nation (2020) Vicki Laveau-Harvie, The Erratics: A Memoir (2021) Jillian Horton, We Are All Perfectly Fine: A Memoir of Love, Medicine and Healing (2022) Hilary Peach, Thick Skin: Field Notes from a Sister in the Brotherhood (2023)

v t e Recipients of the Giller Prize 1990s M. G. Vassanji, The Book of Secrets (1994) Rohinton Mistry, A Fine Balance (1995) Margaret Atwood, Alias Grace (1996) Mordecai Richler, Barney's Version (1997) Alice Munro, The Love of a Good Woman (1998) Bonnie Burnard, A Good House (1999) 2000s Michael Ondaatje, Anil's Ghost / David Adams Richards, Mercy among the Children (2000) Richard B. Wright, Clara Callan (2001) Austin Clarke, The Polished Hoe (2002) M. G. Vassanji, The In-Between World of Vikram Lall (2003) Alice Munro, Runaway (2004) David Bergen, The Time in Between (2005) Vincent Lam, Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures (2006) Elizabeth Hay, Late Nights on Air (2007) Joseph Boyden, Through Black Spruce (2008) Linden MacIntyre, The Bishop's Man (2009) 2010s Johanna Skibsrud, The Sentimentalists (2010) Esi Edugyan, Half-Blood Blues (2011) Will Ferguson, 419 (2012) Lynn Coady, Hellgoing (2013) Sean Michaels, Us Conductors (2014) André Alexis, Fifteen Dogs (2015) Madeleine Thien, Do Not Say We Have Nothing (2016) Michael Redhill, Bellevue Square (2017) Esi Edugyan, Washington Black (2018) Ian Williams, Reproduction (2019) 2020s Souvankham Thammavongsa, How to Pronounce Knife (2020) Omar El Akkad, What Strange Paradise (2021) Suzette Mayr, The Sleeping Car Porter (2022) Sarah Bernstein, Study for Obedience (2023) Anne Michaels, Held (2024) Souvankham Thammavongsa, Pick a Colour (2025)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Linden MacIntyre](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linden_MacIntyre) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linden_MacIntyre?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.