A full-time journalist and writer since 1976, Chris Wood contributed radio documentaries to CBC and articles to a string of national print publications before joining the staff of Maclean's. He spent 16 years (1985-2001) in a variety of positions at Maclean's, including national editor and concluding as a Vancouver-based National Technology Correspondent. As National Editor, Business Editor, U.S. and later Pacific-rim correspondent, and a senior writer, Wood contributed scores of cover and inside stories to the magazine on subjects ranging from Catholics in crisis to children who kill. He also managed numerous special projects, including the magazine's Olympic coverage and its launch of a pioneering Chinese-language edition.

Since returning in 2001 to a freelance life, Chris Wood has completed various non-fiction books, one of them short-listed for the 2005 Donner Prize for the best book on Canadian public policy (Blockbusters & Trade Wars), and he has written a series of YA novels (the Sirius mysteries, featuring the time-traveling dog Patsy Ann, a character base on a real historical dog in Juneau) with my wife, Beverley Wood. His 2006 story on "Water" for Walrus Magazine won two National Magazine Awards, leading to the release of Dry Spring: The Coming Water Crisis of North America.

The core idea behind Chris Wood's Dry Spring: The Coming Water Crisis of North America (Raincoast 2008) is that climate change is felt most acutely when it comes to water distribution. Basically, some places are getting more water, some less, and some are getting water in a different shape (rain versus snow or vice versa), or at a different time of year than in the past.

"Here in BC we've been getting more water year over year as the warmed atmosphere absorbs more water,"; says Wood. He believes the dominant Canadian left-green trope that 'American corporations are coming to get our water' is unsubstantiated by anything more than xenophobic paranoia: no US state has Canada's water on its to-get list.

"The vigour of that chorus tends to drown out the discussions that every serious analyst I interview agrees are much more important, such as how to put a price on water reflecting its real economic value (while of course protecting the needs of poorer families) and how to manage land-use on a whole watershed scale to protect water sources and quality.

"The last is both particularly important and particularly provocative to many who are aqua-nationalists because it requires that we work with our American neighbours, with whom we share most of our most important river basins (eg: Columbia, Red, Great Lakes/St. Lawrence).";

Author's City: Duncan BC
Date Of Birth: January 26, 1953
Place Of Birth: Hamilton, ON
Arrival in Canada:
Arrival in BC: 1993

AWARDS:

Donner Prize (finalist), National Magazine Awards (4)

BOOKS:

Dry Spring: The Coming Water Crisis of North America, Raincoast Books, 2008

The Golden Boy (with Beverley Wood), Raincoast Books, 2006

Jack's Knife (with Beverley Wood), Raincost Books, 2005

Blockbusters & Tradewars, Popular Culture in a Globalized World, Douglas & McIntrye, 2004

DogStar (with Beverley Wood), Raincoast Books, 1998

Live to Air: The Craig Broadcast Story, Douglas & McIntyre: 1997

[BCBW 2009] "Environment" "Media"