Edward Butts
BIO
Biography

Edward Butts has written more than two dozen books about Canadianhistory and adventure for readers of all ages. He writes factual accounts about explorers, outlaws, mysteries, disasters, lost treasure and Canadian battles. His titles include Line of Fire, The Desperate Ones, Running With Dillinger, Simon Girty: Wilderness Warrior, and Wartime: The First World War in a Canadian Town which won the Ontario Historical Society's J.J. Talman Award. Several of Ed's other books have also been nominated for awards. Ed was a school teacher in the Dominican Republic for eight years. His experiences as a grammar teacher resulted in his book Idioms for Aliens, a humorous look at English grammar. Ed also wrote the lyrics for Funky Phonics and Singing Sight Words, multi-volume collections of songs designed to help young children learn to read; and contributed lyrics to a collection of songs about Canada’s prime ministers. Ed has written teacher’s guides for such books as I Came as a Stranger and Safe as Houses. He has given talks in schools and other venues. Ed has written hundreds of articles for numerous publications including the Toronto Star and the Globe & Mail. For several years he wrote a monthly historical column for the Guelph Mercury-Tribune.  Ed lives in Guelph, Ontario, with his daughter Melanie and grandson Austin. Books Pirates & Outlaws of Canada (with Harold Horwood), 1984, Doubleday Canada. Republished 2003 by Lynx Images  Bandits & Privateers: Canada in the Age of Gunpowder, (with Harold Horwood)1987, Doubleday Canada; Idioms for Aliens: A Grammar Revue of Plays and Verse, 2003, Maupin House (USA); Outlaws of the Lakes, 2004, Lynx Images;  She Dared, 2005, Tundra; Guiding Lights, Tragic Shadows: Tales of Great Lakes Lighthouses, 2005, Lynx Images; True Canadian Disaster Stories, 2006, Prospero/Key Porter; The Desperate Ones: Forgotten Canadian Outlaws, 2006, Dundurn (nominated for Arthur Ellis Award); True Canadian Unsolved Mysteries, 2007, Prospero/Key Porter; True Stories of Canadian Battlefields, 2007, Prospero/Key Porter; SOS: Stories of Survival, 2007, Tundra (nominated for Red Maple and Hackmatack Awards); Running With Dillinger, 2008, Dundurn; X Doesn't Mark the Spot, 2008, Tundra; True Canadian Explorers, 2008, Prospero/Key Porter; Line of Fire, 2009, Dundurn; Henry Hudson: New World Voyager, 2009, Dundurn; Ghost Stories of Newfoundland & Labrador, 2010, Dundurn; Shipwrecks, Monsters and Mysteries of the Great Lakes, 2010, Tundra (nominated for Hackmatack Award); Murder: Twelve True Stories of Homicide in Canada, 2011, Dundurn; Simon Girty: Wilderness Warrior, 2011, Dundurn; Bodyguards: From Gladiators to the Secret Service, 2012, Annick; Sheridan Nurseries: One Hundred Years of People, Plans and Plants (with Karl Stensson), 2012, Dundurn; Wrong Side of the Law: True Stories of Crime, 2013, Dundurn; Behind the Badge, 2014, Annick; Rum, Blood & Treasure: Stories Strange and True from Atlantic Canada, 2016, Formac; Bandits & Renegades, 2016, RJ Parker Publishing; Wartime: The First World War in a Canadian Town, 2017, James Lorimer & Co.  (J.J. Talman Award); The Mad, Bad & Dangerous Vol. 1, 2018, Vronsky Parker Publications; The Mad, Bad & Dangerous Vol. 2, 2018, Vronsky Parker Publications; A Happy Rhymer (editor), Vocamus Editions, 2019; This Withering Disease of Conflict, Guelph Historical Society, 2021; This Game of War, Ronsdale Press, 2022; Guelph Stories, Wolf's Head Publishing, 2024; The Blacksmith: Hereward Kirby Cockin of Guelph, Wolf's Head Publishing, 2025;  

ADDRESS
City: Guelph, Province/Territory: Ontario
EMAIL
LANGUAGES
English
Programs & Interests
Interested in participating Union’s Ontario Writers-in-the-Schools program:
All members are eligible for the Union’s Ontario Writers-in-the-Schools program. Are you interested in participating in this pro
No
Interested in participating in the Northern Ontario WITS program:
The Union’s Northern Ontario Writers-in-the-Schools program funds in-person visits to northern Ontario schools when possible. Ar
No