As great ideas often do, the seed for a substance to combat diabetes came to Frederick Banting during a sleepless night. The decorated war hero, who served as a medical officer in France, became the first Canadian to receive the Nobel Prize for his part in the discovery of insulin. A painter whose closest friend was the artist A. Y. Jackson, Banting, knighted in 1934 and showered with money, awards and the gratitude of diabetics, hated the public spotlight. Author Stephen Eaton Hume, who currently teaches at the University of Victoria, reveals a compelling and complex man in Frederick Banting: Hero, Healer, Artist (XYZ Publishing, $15.95), twelfth in a series of Canadian biographies. 0-9688166-3-0

[BCBW WINTER 2001]