Alex Macdonald was born in Vancouver in 1918, son of B.C. Attorney-General M.A. Macdonald. He became secretary to CCF leader M.J. Coldwell in 1944 and twice ran unsuccessfully as a CCF'er in B.C. before being elected as an NDP MLA for Vancouver-Kingsway in 1957. He became B.C.'s longest sitting MLA and moved into his father's former office as Attorney-General in 1972. My Dear Legs: Letters to a Young Social Democrat (1985) recalls his life in politics and gives advice to Hugh Legg, an NDP researcher approximately half Macdonald's age. In Alex in Wonderland (1993) Macdonald argues for a kinder, fairer society through cooperation, decency and hard work. In 1983 he edited Penticton, 1908-1983: 75 Years to Remember, and in 1999 he vented his frustration with Outrage: Canada's Justice System on Trial. He published Looking Backward in 2003.

[BCBW 2003]

Review of the author's work by BC Studies:
My Dear Legs...': Letters to a Young Social Democrat