Greg Dickson grew up in Osoyoos in the South Okanagan where he developed a love of B.C. history and geography. He spent his summers working in the B.C. fruit industry and using his weekends to travel around to old mining camps and ghost towns. One summer spent on an archaeology dig for the Osoyoos Indian Band led to a lifetime interest in First Nations history and culture. For over twenty years Greg worked as a broadcaster and journalist for CBC Radio and Television. He started at CFPR in Prince Rupert in the early 1980s hosting the noon and afternoon shows, traveling extensively in the Nass Valley, the Hazeltons and Haida Gwaii. During this time he covered the South Moresby campaign and First Nations treaty issues. As a CBC Radio news reporter in Calgary and Vancouver, he went on to cover major Aboriginal rights issues including the Nisga'a treaty, the Apex Alpine blockades, Delgamuukw, and the siege at Gustafsen Lake. He became a public affairs officer with the Ministry of Education. He lives with his wife Sheryl beside the Coquitlam River. He has also taught journalism at the B.C. Institute of Technology in Burnaby and worked as a television producer for CBC Newsworld in Vancouver and London, England.

In 2005, as director of B.C. Almanac, he co-wrote the B.C. Almanac Book of Greatest British Columbians with host Mark Forsythe. Their second book is The Trail of 1858: British Columbia's Gold Rush Past (Harbour 2007).

Of the 611,000 Canadians who fought for King and Country in World War One, 55,570 were from British Columbia. That was the highest per capita enlistment rate in Canada. Of that contingent, 6,225 died in battle at a time when the overall population of B.C. was only 400,000. Including stories, artifacts and photos from Mark Forsythe's audience for his BC Almanac program on CBC Radio, Mark Forsythe and Greg Dickson's From the West Coast to the Western Front: British Columbians and the Great War (Harbour 2014) marks the 100th anniversary of World War One. Among those profiled is First Nations soldier George Maclean who won a Distinguished Conduct Medal, the second-highest award for gallantry available to non-commissioned officers and privates in the Great War. During the Battle of Vimy Ridge, armed with a dozen "pineapples"; - Mill bombs also known as grenades - he launched a solo attack and captured 19 prisoners, getting wounded in the process. Maclean was a rancher from the Head of the Lake Band in the Okanagan who enlisted in Vernon in 1916, having previously served with the Canadian Mounted Rifles during the Boer War. Shot in the arm by a sniper during his heroics at Vimy, Maclean returned to Canada for treatment and became a fireman in Vancouver. He died in 1934.

DATE OF BIRTH: Jan. 3, 1956

PLACE OF BIRTH: Oliver, B.C.

EMPLOYMENT OTHER THAN WRITING: Media Relations, Ministry of Education

BOOKS:

From the West Coast to the Western Front: British Columbians and the Great War (Harbour 2014)

The Trail of 1858: British Columbia's Gold Rush Past (Harbour 2007) co-authored with Mark Forsythe

The BC Almanac Book of Greatest British Columbians (Harbour 2005) co-authored with Mark Forsythe

[BCBW 2014]

Review of the author's work by BC Studies:
The Trail of 1858: British Columbia's Gold Rush Past
From the West Coast to the Western Front: British Columbians and the Great War