For the first time since the inception of the Pierre Berton Award – Canada’s most prestigious history honour – a national magazine may be named as the winner. Legion Magazine, continuously published for almost a century, is a finalist for this year’s coveted Governor General’s History Award.
The nomination was announced Thursday, June 21 in Winnipeg by Canada’s National History Society, a national charitable organization devoted to popularizing Canadian history.
In naming Legion Magazine, the society noted the magazine began publishing in 1926 and has over the past two decades evolved into “an engaging and attractive popular magazine that focuses on all aspects of Canada’s military past.” The magazine’s print readership reaches almost 620,000 but a growing book and online audience brings the total readership to almost a million.
“Legion Magazine is almost a hundred years old and our mandate has always been to bring the stories of Canada to every corner of this country,” said General Manager Jennifer Morse. “This type of recognition can only help us share this nation’s history with an even wider audience.”
Since its inception in 1993, the Pierre Berton Award has become Canada’s top honour which recognizes distinguished achievement in presenting and popularizing Canadian history in an informative and engaging manner.
Past recipients include Pierre Berton, Peter C. Newman, CBC, Jack Granatstein and actor/filmmaker Paul Gross. “Each year there seems to be more and better books, television, film, and new media programming on Canadian history, which was of course, why the Award was established,” noted Richard Pound, chair of the board of directors of Canada’s History Society. “This year’s finalists best demonstrate how far we have come in the last two decades, in our mission to make Canadian stories more available and accessible to a wider audience.”
For more information on Legion Magazine contact:
General Manager Jennifer Morse 613-591-0116, Ext. 250 • magazine@legion.ca
