"I was first introduced to Bill years before I met him. My father bought his books from early on which meant I grew up with ones like Gold Creeks and Ghost Towns: East Kootenay, Boundary, West Kootenary, Okanagan and Similkameen. In the summers in the 1970s my family would try and find the places he described in his books. As a kid I dreamed of finding some of the lost treasures he talked about in his books."; - Bernard von Schulmann, friend of Bill Barlee and fellow B.C. history enthusiast.

http://illahie.blogspot.ca/2012/07/bill-barlee-1932-2012_04.html

"Barlee didn't lack courage, quitting a teaching career in Trail and Penticton in 1969 to start his magazine. On subscription fees and a few classified ads, he built a life's work that allowed him to walk the boardwalks of history and the halls of power."; - Tom Fletcher, legislative reporter and columnist for Black Press and BCLocalNews.com

http://www.nelsonstar.com/opinion/161983525.html

"Barlee had just seven subscribers when he produced his first quarterly issue [of Canada West]. Three months later, he had sold about 400 subscriptions at $2.75 apiece, including one to my Uncle Morley in Cranbrook. It was my uncle who first told me about Barlee and Canada West, back in 1969, but within a few years it seemed that Barlee's name was everywhere. Barlee had a keen interest in our province, and made thousands of people aware of the wonders close to our homes...

Barlee made a difference through the many stages of his life. Along with teaching high school and publishing his magazine, he wrote bestsellers on gold creeks and ghost towns, co-hosted a television show on history and artifacts, and ran his own museum...

And now, one of the greatest champions this province has ever seen is gone."; - Dave Obee, The Victoria Times Colonist http://www.timescolonist.com/business/Column+needs+more+politicians+like+Bill+Barlee/6873668/story.html#ixzz20ozQERxZ

"Barlee, a longtime high-school teacher and an excellent tourism minister in the 1990s, wrote many self-published books that were incredible best-sellers, including Gold Creeks and Ghost Towns. He published a magazine about the old west. He assembled a vast and important collection of artifacts and documents. He worked tirelessly to preserve historical sites and landmarks, like the Kettle Valley Railway and the silver-rush ghost town of Sandon. But his most remarkable gift was the ability to transfix any listener with wonderful stories of B.C.'s rich history and the colourful characters who made it."; - Michael Smyth, The Province

http://www.theprovince.com/news/Bill+Barlee+mined+province+precious+past/6886934/story.html#ixzz20p2nfHIf

"He was one of the funniest guys I knew because he had so many stories to tell. I think that was one of the things that endeared so many people to Bill Barlee - his story-telling and his good humour and good nature."; - Harry Lali, New Democrat MLA for Fraser-Nicola

http://www.pentictonherald.ca/front-page-news/bill-barlee-remembered.html