2018 MGB Patron: Bernadette McDonald
Congratulations to Bernadette McDonald on being named Patron of the 2018 MGB!
Life and Career
Bernadette McDonald is a Canadian-born author of several non-fiction books, primarily on mountain culture topics, including Brotherhood of the Rope, Tomaž Humar, Freedom Climbers and Art Of Freedom.
She grew up on a prairie farm. Her childhood and most of her education was focused on music, with a special emphasis on the performance of contemporary classical chamber music. She studied at Pacific Lutheran University, the University of Western Ontario and The Banff Centre. She moved to the Canadian Rockies in the early 1970s.
She volunteered for the Banff Mountain Film Festival and she worked at The Banff Centre for twenty years, directing the Banff Mountain Festivals and starting the Mountain Culture division. She resigned from her position of vice president, Mountain Culture in 2006 to concentrate on writing.
She lectures on a variety of mountain topics for universities, festivals and alpine clubs, consults on mountain cultural issues with start-up festivals and mountain institutes, and curates mountain-related exhibitions. She has received a number of honours, including the Alberta Order of Excellence, the Summit of Excellence Award, the King Albert Award and several mountain literary prizes such as the 2011 and the 2017 Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature. She was Canada’s representative at the United Nations to launch the International Year of Mountains.
She has traveled widely, from South Africa to Iceland, Tibet to Patagonia, New Zealand to India, France to Turkey and Italy. She lives with her husband Alan McDonald in Banff, Alberta and in Naramata, British Columbia.
Authored Works
- Art of Freedom - The life and climbs of Voytek Kurtyka, Rocky Mountain Books, 2017, Calgary, Alberta
- Alpine Warriors, Rocky Mountain Books, 2015, Calgary, Alberta
- Keeper of the Mountains: The Elizabeth Hawley Story, Rocky Mountain Books, 2012, Calgary, Alberta
- Freedom Climbers, Rocky Mountain Books, 2011, Calgary, Alberta
- Tomaž Humar, Random House, Spring 2008, London
- Brotherhood of the Rope, Baton Wicks, 2007, London
- Brotherhood of the Rope, The Mountaineers Books, 2007, Seattle, Washington
- Ti telefono a Katmandu, CDA Vivalda Editori, 2006, Turin
- Wir Sehen Uns in Kathmandu, Bergverlag Rother, 2006, Munich
- I’ll Call You in Kathmandu: the Elizabeth Hawley Story, The Mountaineers Books, 2005, Seattle
- Ritratti dalle vette, alpinisti fotografati da Craig Richards, Museo della Montagna, 2003
Website
http://www.bernadettemcdonald.ca/