Fifteen years after his death, a mention of the name Ben Ginter still raises hackles across Canada. A man who accomplished much, he also angered many. Newspapers loved him, as he aIways made good copy, surrounded by controversy as he was. As a road builder, he was rumoured to be in cahoots with then Highways Minister "Flying Phil" Gaglardi. As beer baron, he railed against the monopoly practices of the "Big Three" - Labatt's, Molson's and Carling O'Keefe. As a person, he was ready to sue anybody, any time, anywhere. Defended by some, reviled by many, Ginter has left his mark on BC from the pulp mill in Kitimat to highways throughout the Interior to changes in liquor and receivership laws.

The late Jan-Udo Wenzel was born in Berlin, Germany and grew up on the North Sea island of Amrum. He came to Canada as a young man where he worked as a newspaper reporter and editor in Vancouver, Edmonton and Kamloops. He also worked in Oregon and Washington, in Europe and the Far East before settling in Prince George, BC. For more than a decade he worked for the Prince George Citizen, before publishing his own newspaper. He wrote for various European publications on Canadian subjects.

Jan-Udo Wenzel's profile page