Books Briefly

Investigative Journalists Bet on Books to Tell the Story
By Gillian Steward

You don't have to read very far into any of these books to realize that the authors were goaded by a burning sense of injustice, by the plight of the people who suffered the injustices and by the drama of the story itself.

"Until You Are Dead:" Steven Truscott's Long Ride Into History
By Julian Sher
Alfred A. Knopf Canada,
567 pages, $37.95

Saboteurs:Wiebo Ludwig's War Against Big Oil
By Andrew Nikiforuk
Macfarlane, Walter and Ross,
262 pages, $34.99

Just Another Indian: A Serial Killer and Canada's Indifference
By Warren Goulding
Fifth House Ltd.,
219 pages, $22.95

Three books came to my attention recently and after reading them it occurred to me that as news media space for investigative journalism shrinks certain book publishers are benefiting.

The three books — "Until You are Dead:" Steven Truscott's Long Ride into History, by Julian Sher; Saboteurs: Wiebo Ludwig's War Against Big Oil, by Andrew Nikiforuk; and Just Another Indian: A Serial Killer and Canada's Indifference, by Warren Goulding — are all great examples of work by first-class journalists both obsessed by a topic and frustrated at the dearth of opportunities to tell the whole story.

They convinced book publishers the story was worth telling and then took a year or two out of their lives to write. To the uninitiated this may sound like glamorous work. But essentially it means earning little or no money while you write, paying for research out of your advance, or your own pocket, and earning next to nothing from sales of the book.

So why would anyone do this? I suppose the hope, however faint, of fame and fortune can often be found lurking in the background. But you don't have to read very far into any of these books to realize that the authors were goaded by a burning sense of injustice, by the plight of the people who suffered the injustices and by the drama of the story itself. It had taken over their lives, invaded their hearts and minds until they could do nothing else but write it.

"Nothing I've ever done was as hard as this," says Julian Sher. I did two years worth of work in one year."

Sher's book is about Steven Truscott, who at 14 was sentenced to death for the murder of 12-year-old Lynne Harper. His sentence was later commuted and he spent 10 years in prison. But after he was released and had lived anonymously for 30 years, Truscott decided to go public and proclaim he was not the murderer.

As a producer at CBC's television's the fifth estate, Sher had already delved deeply into the Steven Truscott story before he set about writing the book. He and co-producer Theresa Burke uncovered new evidence of Truscott's innocence. When the documentary aired in 2000 it drew 1.4 million viewers and caused a stir from Parliament to coffee row.

But still the story wouldn't let go of Sher. Or Burke. She worked with him on the book too. (An account of how Sher and Burke got the story is contained in the Summer 2001 edition of Media magazine)

"The advantage of book is the time you have," he says, " You can do more research. People who refused interviews at the beginning have time to change their minds. And you have time to change your own mind about the thrust of the story." Sher wrote every day rather than let the research pile up and overwhelm him. "It's only by writing do I know what else I need to know," he added.

Sher also likes the permanency of a book. "Newspapers stories become fish wrapping and TV pieces disappear into the zone somewhere between Mars and Venus," he says with a laugh.

All three books are about crime. But it's the context in which the crimes are committed, and what that tells us about the criminals, the victims, the justice system and society at large that makes them all quite spellbinding. This is literary non-fiction at its best. No pyramid-style newspaper writing here. No ponderous laying out of the facts in chronological order. These books are page-turners — driven by narrative, character and action. But also full of documented facts, interviews and creative use of detailed information from court proceedings.

"I just wanted to write something that people would read, " said Nikoforuk of Saboteurs, when I asked him about his literary style.

Nikiforuk's subject is Wiebo Ludwig and his crusade against the oil and gas industry, Alberta government regulators and the RCMP. Two years ago Ludwig was convicted of property damage and possession of explosives and sent to prison.

Nikiforuk doesn't present Ludwig as a haloed martyr, but rather as a cantankerous, scheming and single-minded patriarch of a religious commune. But he also makes it clear that this "16th century Protestant" had every reason in the world to be angry. Like many other rural landowners in Alberta he, his family and herds had suffered from the air, ground and water pollution thrust upon them by powerful and aggressive corporations.

"I've had great response from landowners to this book," says Nikiforuk who wrote Saboteurs without the cooperation of many of the main players — Alberta Energy Company, the RCMP and, at times, Ludwig himself.

"Nobody really wanted to talk — there was always an underlying fear that people would be punished by the oil industry or by Ludwig," he says. But with the help of those not afraid to be interviewed, court transcripts and transcripts from the Energy and Utility Board (EUB) Nikiforuk weaves a potent tale of industrial might and the people who pay the price.

Just Another Indian — is about a serial murderer, largely ignored by the news media even though he killed four women — Paul Bernardo was convicted of killing two girls, Toronto's Marcello Palma killed three.

The whole gruesome episode wasn't deemed worthy of much coverage, writes Warren Goulding because the murderer, John Crawford, was a "lifetime loser" and his victims were poor aboriginal women. Most people in the media and society at large simply didn't identify with any of the main characters. Add the fact that the story unfolded in Saskatchewan — right off the map for most of the national media — and you have a recipe for righteous indignation.

Goulding particularly wanted to bring to life through words the brutalized, silenced, and discarded victims. The result is a compelling story that was recently recognized as the best non-fiction book of the year at the Saskatchewan Book Awards. But why hadn't this story already been told by the Saskatchewan news media? Racism played a part, writes Goulding, but also the purges of newsroom staff by Hollinger at the Saskatoon Star Phoenix and The Regina Leader Post and by CBC and CTV at their local affiliates.

"Would the coverage of Crawford and his victims been more in-depth and analytical had the media had more resources?" Goulding asks.

An interesting question.

I'm willing to bet that unless many of those resources, including investigative reporters, are replaced, book publishers, and book readers, will continue to benefit.

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Gillian Steward is Media magazine's books editor.