Canadian journalist, author and former television broadcaster Alan Hustak has written for every major newspaper in the country, and has worked as a CBC radio reporter and as television reporter for CTV in the 1970s and 80s.
He is the author of the book Titanic: The Canadian Story, and on November 2, Hustak will be in the Kamsack Public Library to do a book reading for “all you Titanic buffs!”
The book presents a saga of the 130 Canadian passengers aboard the ill-fated luxury liner bound for Canada, the Titanic. Drawn from interviews across Canada with direct descendants and relatives of Canadians who sailed on the Titanic's maiden voyage, this book unearths historic photographs and stories that contribute another dimension to the familiar tale.
“We are very excited to feature journalist and author Alan Hustak at the Library,” said Betty Dix, library board chair.
“I had received a copy of Titanic: The Canadian Story as a gift, and once I started reading it, I could not put it down,” she said. “I felt compelled to reach out to the author, Alan Hustak, and he agreed to come to our Library to do a reading.”
Although Hustak is based in Montreal, he was born in Esterhazy, and has also lived in Alberta, where he wrote a biography of Premier Peter Lougheed. His other works include a "biography" of Montreal's St. Patrick's Basilica and The Murder of Mary Gallagher: The True Story of the Ghost of Griffintown, according to information found on the Internet.
Honoured with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medal for “chronicling the lives of deserving Canadians and their institutions,” he is the author of more than a dozen books including biographies and histories of several corporate institutions including St. Mary’s Hospital and the Old Brewery Mission.
Hustak arrived in Montreal for a weekend in 1967 to attend the opening of the World’s Fair. He has called it home ever since. “It is the longest weekend I have ever spent anywhere,” he says.
Although retired from the Gazette, where he worked for almost 25 years, he continues to freelance for The Globe and Mail as well as several on-line sites, including Ville Marie on Line and The Metropolitan, the information continued.
His book The Murder of Mary Gallagher, The True Story of the Ghost of Griffintown, published in 2005, has been optioned for a movie. His other book published that year, Sir William Hingston, 1829-1907: Montreal Mayor, Surgeon and Banker, was a finalist for the 2005 Mavis Gallant Prize for non-fiction.
Hustak will be at the Library from 1 to 4 p.m. Refreshments will be provided.
