Each week, Ottawa Sun columnist Pat MacAdam regales readers with stories that bring Canadian history to life. But MacAdam searches beyond the bounds of contemporary journalists for his stories, sniffing out unusual, comical and heart warming stories from the scrapbooks, diaries and backrooms of the famous and the obscure alike.
Frequently, MacAdam's columns draw deep from his wealth of knowledge about his native Cape Breton and its rich and colourful history. In this collection, MacAdam's larger-than-life characters breathe life into a bygone era of the island's storied shores.

Patrick (Pat) MacAdam is a native Cape Bretoner who has made Ottawa his home since 1959. He holds bachelor's degrees in arts and education from St. Francis Xavier University. He paid his way through university by writing for the Sydney Post-Record, Halifax Chronicle-Herald and Fredericton Daily Gleaner. He spent three summers in the Canadian Officers Training Corps in Camp Borden, Ontario, and Halifax, Nova Scotia, and was commissioned a lieutenant in the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps. His entire professional life has been in public relations and politics. He was senior writer in the Public Relations Department, Expo '67, the Montreal World's Fair from 1963 to 1967. He was director of public relations and promotion for CJOH-TV (Bushnell TV) and produced "Question Period" for CTV Network. He was a researcher, speechwriter, and aide to Prime Minister John Diefenbaker from 1959 to 1963. In 1983, he joined his university friend, Brian Mulroney, as his first employee and most senior aide. He resigned from the Prime Minister's Office in 1987 to become Minister-Counsellor, Press and Media (Press Officer) at the Canadian High Commission, Trafalgar Square, London. His freelance writing has appeared in Hudson Bay history magazine The Beaver, Weekend Magazine, The Canadian Magazine, Maclean's, Ottawa Citizen, Globe and Mail, National Post, Sun Media newspapers in Ottawa and Toronto, the Cape Bretoner Magazine, daily newspapers in Saint John, Sydney, Halifax, Vancouver, and St. John's. His writing for the Ottawa Citizen earned him two National Newspaper Award nominations for excellence in feature writing. He passed away in May 2015 at age 80.

Pat MacAdam's profile page