Everyone's Grandfather: The Life and Times of Grant MacEwan

David E. Smith is a professor of political science at the University of
Saskatchewan and the author of Building a Province: A History of
Saskatchewan in Documents and The Invisible Crown.

The subject of this biography is Grant MacEwan: agriculturist, writer,
naturalist, politician, and former lieutenant-governor of Alberta. In a
format reminiscent of a cross between a family album and a journal, the
familiar North American tale of early hardship and of obstacles
overcome, of success and of public esteem won is retold. The son of
settlers who pioneered in the Melfort area of Saskatchewan, MacEwan was
educated at the Ontario Agricultural College and the University of Iowa.
First on the faculty at the University of Saskatchewan’s College of
Agriculture, he later became Dean of Agriculture at the University of
Manitoba before abandoning an academic career for political one,
initially as alderman, later as mayor of Calgary, and then as MLA and
leader of the Alberta Liberal Party. In 1965 he received his vice-regal
appointment.

MacEwan early established a vocation as a popular speaker and author of
Western Canadian history and life. In these capacities he was
outstandingly successful, and it is possible to see his official career
as secondary in importance to his general reputation—and perhaps to
him personally. On this point, however, the text is resolutely
uncommunicative beyond presenting a recitation of facts, although the
reader is told that MacEwan’s extracurricular interests constrained
his family life and irritated his academic superiors.

The qualities of a good lieutenant-governor remain unwritten. But if a
model were wanted, then the personality and interests of Grant MacEwan
would make “everyone’s grandfather” the eminent candidate.
Expansive, articulate, passionate, and curious are adjectives that best
describe the man.

There are grammatical mistakes and factual errors in this book. There
is as well the surprising claim that the King–Byng constitution crisis
of 1926 involved the Governor General’s use of “an outdated
procedure.” For a book that celebrates the life of a popular author
and onetime Queen’s representative, these are unfortunate lapses.