Bull of the Woods

Agar Adamson is the author of Letters of Agar Adamson, 1914–19 and former chair of the Department of Political Science at Acadia University in Nova Scotia.

Gordon Gibson published his autobiography in 1980. This 2000 edition was
updated and expanded by his son, columnist and retired politician Gordon
F. Gibson.

The senior Gibson was a self-made man who built a lumber empire on
northern Vancouver Island and later became an irascible member of the
B.C. Legislature. Like his son, Gibson was a Liberal, but unlike his
son, who worked for Pierre Trudeau and for a brief period served as
leader of the B.C. Liberals, he never achieved real power in the
political realm; his own particular power derived from his
larger-than-life reputation.

Related in a straightforward and salty manner, Gibson’s autobiography
sheds light on the social history of British Columbia during much of the
20th century. It also provides an interesting context for the
discussions now taking place concerning the future of the B.C. forest
industry as well as the B.C. Liberal Party.

Gibson’s remarkable story is marred only by this book’s lack of an
index and references.