Marjorie Harris Biography
Marjorie Harris (born 15 September 1937) is a Canadian non-fiction writer who has published more than 20 books. She is renowned for her expertise on gardening in Canada.
Early life
Marjorie Kathleen Harris, nee Stibbards, was born in Shaunavon, Saskatchewan, the eldest of three children of Bernard and Kay Stibbards. Her father’s work as a Baptist minister led the family to move to many different places over the years, including Goose Bay, Labrador, and Vancouver, British Columbia. During the Second World War, she lived with her mother and siblings in Winnipeg, while her father was overseas as an air force chaplain. She attended McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and graduated with a B.A. in English in 1959.
Writing career
Harris’s writing career began when she began working for Maclean’s magazine in 1966. She went on to be a freelance journalist for Saturday Night (magazine), Chatelaine (magazine), Weekend, The Canadian, Artscanada, Quest, Toronto Life, Financial Post magazine, Flare, and the Toronto Star, writing on topics including design, art, and feminism. In the 1970s, she was *ociate editor at Chatelaine for several years.
In 1988, she decided to focus her writing on gardening and plants, and began to write articles on the subject for the Toronto Star and Toronto Life. For her first gardening book, The Canadian Gardener, published in 1990, she and photographer Tim Saunders travelled across Canada, talking to dozens of gardeners to get their best advice.
She was editor-in-chief of Gardening Life magazine and wrote regular columns on gardening for The Globe and Mail.Much of her writing has focused on her own garden in midtown Toronto, a narrow plot that she has cultivated carefully to make the most of the space. She strongly promotes ecological gardening principles and growing native plants that are adapted to Canadian conditions.
Broadcasting career
Harris has written and produced do*entaries for CBC radio. She had a radio host job at CBC Radio’s Metro Morning as “The Urban Gardener.” For many years, she was a regular guest on This Country in the Morning hosted by Peter Gzowski, a popular CBC radio program. In 2003, she appeared in the Recreating Eden TV series episode “A Perfect Life.” Harris has also created several short videos for YouTube aimed at home gardeners and contributed gardening advice to CBC Life.
Archives
The McMaster university library acquired Marjorie Harris’s archives in July 2005 and March 2006. She was honoured there in 2007 with an exhibition *led “Marjorie Harris’s Garden of the World.”
Awards
McMaster University Distinguished Alumni Award
Personal life
Her first marriage was to television producer and musician Barry Harris; she has two children, Christopher and Jennifer. Currently, she lives in Toronto with her second husband, writer Jack Batten.
Select bibliography
Historic Canada, co-written with Kildare Dobbs (1984)
Toronto: The City of Neighbourhoods (1984)
Sciencescape: The Nature of Canada, co-written with David Suzuki and Hans Blohm (1984)
Everyday Law: A Survival Guide for Canadians, co-written with Jack Batten (1987)
The Canadian Gardener (1990)
The Canadian Gardener's Year (1992)
In the Garden: Thoughts on the Changing Seasons (1995)
The Healing Garden (1996)
Marjorie Harris’s Favourite Perennials (1997)
Marjorie Harris’s Favourite Annuals (1997)
Pocket Gardening: A Guide to Gardening in Impossible Places (1998)
Seasons of My Garden (1999)
The Green Book of Household Hints (2001)
Botanica North America: The Illustrated Guide to Our Native Plants, Their Botany, History, and the Way They Have Shaped Our World (2003)
How to Make a Garden: The Seven Essential Steps for a Canadian Gardener (2007)
Ecological Gardening (2009)
Thrifty: Living the Frugal Life with Style (2010)
Thrifty Gardening from the Ground Up (2012)
How to Make Love to a Lobster, co-written with Peter Taylor (2013)
External links
https://marjorieharris.com/
https://www.whitecap.ca/Marjorie-Harris
https://www.fitzhenry.ca/marjorie-harris
https://www.isbns.net/search/?query=Marjorie+Harris
