Irene Baird is one of Canada’s most original and underappreciated writers. Born in England in 1919, she spent much of her life in British Columbia and Ontario, and travelled widely in Canada’s north. She is the author of four novels: John (1937), Waste Heritage (1939), He Rides the Sky (1941) and Climate of Power (1971). She also worked for the National Film Board, was a journalist, and became the first woman to head a federal information service. She died in 1981.