Edward and Virginia Byfield

Edward (Ted) Bartlett Byfield (1928-2021)

and

Virginia Luella (born Nairn) Byfield (1930-2014)

The following article, particularly regarding Virginia Byfield, has been edited from the core narrative of Paula Simons.

Early life of Edward B Byfield

On 14 July, 1928, Edward Bartlett Byfield was born to Vernon and Caroline (born Gillet) Byfield in Toronto, Ontario, Canada . Vernon was employed as a reporter for the “Toronto Telegram” and the “Toronto Star” newspapers.

He moved with his parents to Washington, D.C. at the age of 17 (in 1945).

Ted began his life as a journalist by working as a copy boy for the “Washington Post”. His work consisted mainly of serving as an apprentice.

He returned to Canada, and to Ottawa, Ontario, in 1948, and he worked at the “Ottawa Journal”, and at the “Timmins Daily Press”.

It was in Ottawa that he met Virginia Nairn in 1949, and they were married in the same year.

Early life of Virginia L Nairn

Virginia Luella Nairn, was born in 1930, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She and her 2 sisters were the daughters of a Canadian mother and an American father. When her parents' marriage ended, young Virginia moved to Nova Scotia, where she was raised by her mother’s relatives in a lumber town. There, she learned to swear like a lumberjack, and she developed her tough sense of humour. Both these elements proved to be useful to her in the future, when she entered the world of journalism.

The young Virginia

When her mother remarried into a wealthy Ottawa family, Virginia was suddenly part of a world of finishing schools and debutante balls. To her mother’s despair, she refused to make a debut, or to enter into a society marriage. Instead, she won 4 scholarships in classical languages to the University of Toronto, where she also studied economics and political science, worked for the campus communist newspaper, and dated an activist in the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) party (a socialist-minded party).

At the age of 19, Virginia began a summer job at the "Ottawa Journal". There, she met the 20-year-old cub reporter Ted Byfield. “I had never before seen such an absolutely charming woman”, Ted recalled. “She wasn’t beautiful in the usual sense, but she was very good-looking. I was just taken with her. She was very literate. She could quote poetry. I said to myself, ‘I’ve got to find a way to get her’”.

When she returned to the University of Toronto, Ted quit his job and followed her to Toronto. When he was unable to find work as a reporter there, he took a position at the "Timmins Daily Press". She decided to drop out of university in her second year, and to apply for work at his paper, where he was by then city editor. Their chief editor, worried about a scandalous office romance, told the young couple that they would have to get married.

Marriage, 1949

Therefore, between putting out the first and second editions, they rushed to the local United Church manse for a 20-minute ceremony followed by a quick lunch. “Then we rushed back and put out the second edition”, remarked Mr. Byfield.

Such a rapid arrangement is no longer possible in Canada.

They stayed married 65 years, sharing passions for sailing, history, political debate, and later, their rediscovered Christian faith.

Their son Eric Linkord Byfield was born in Ottawa, Ontario, on 5 December, 1951.

Move to Winnipeg, 1952

In 1952, Edward (Ted) and Virginia moved west, to Winnipeg, Manitoba, in order to join the "Winnipeg Free Press". While he was reporting on the activities at the city hall in Winnipeg, he once crawled into an air-conditioning duct in order to eavesdrop on a secret city council meeting, which enabled him to get a "scoop" on a funding scandal.

Virginia was never anyone’s “Girl Friday” (see “Robinson Crusoe”). In her writing, she vehemently opposed feminism and she championed family values. Nevertheless, she worked throughout most of her married life, and she saw no contradiction in doing so (as was the case for many other women).

Ted And Virginia, 1952

Virginia at work in a newsroom (lower right) ; Ted is upper left

With Ted, Virginia raised 6 children while she worked as a reporter and photographer with the CBC, and as a private school teacher.

Their son Link Byfield said about her, “She sure didn’t fit the stereotypical suburban ideal. She was never a very expressive person to the kids. She was not a demonstrative mother. We loved our mom, but she didn’t want us all giving her Mother’s Day presents. She distrusted sentimentality quite a lot”.

Link Byfield

Recovered Christian faith

After the move to Winnipeg in 1952, Ted and Virginia (in her mid-20s, a mother of 4) began to read and to become interested in and powerfully influenced by the writings of Christian apologists such as G K Chesterton, C S Lewis and Dorothy L Sayers. They became active Anglican Christians in Winnipeg.

Their first daughter Philippa Byfield was born in Winnipeg on 1 May, 1954.

Byfield family in 1958

Byfield family in 1961

Lay religious order ; private school, 1962

In 1962, Ted and Virginia Byfield and Frank A Weins formed and founded the Company of the Cross, an Anglican lay religious order. The members of this lay order were paid $1.00 per day plus room and board.

Through this order, he also worked with parishioners at Winnipeg’s Saint John’s Cathedral to found a private Anglican school (“Saint John’s Cathedral Boys’ School”) near Selkirk, Manitoba. Then, in 1962, he left journalism in order to become a history teacher at the new school.

A controversial book, and Ted's response

In the early 1960s, for some reason, the leadership of the Anglican Church of Canada commissioned Mr. Pierre Berton to write a report about the state of the church. At that time, the Anglican Church was still rather conservative (or, better, “traditional”), but a movement was developing to promote being “more relevant” to current society.

The result of the commission was the publication, “The Comfortable Pew : A Critical Look at the Church In The New Age” (McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1965). This book “was quite critical of the Anglican Church, whose teachings Berton condemned as sanctimonious, conformist, submissive to power, and hypocritical with respect to sexuality and other social issues”. Further, he “called for the Anglican Church to accept what he called ‘real Christian love, in all its flexibility, with all of its concern for real people rather than for any fixed set of principles’”. His writing, which supported those who wished for more “progressive" change, caused considerable consternation with some, and approbation with others, and certain parties promoted his perspective.

In response to this, Ted Byfield wrote his response, “Just Think, Mr. Berton (a little harder)” (1965), in a manner “reminiscent of the book-length duels of Hilaire Belloc and H G Wells over the theories contained in 'The Outline of History'”.

The response of Ted to Mr. Berton

Instead of heeding the caution of Mr. Byfield, the Anglican Church of Canada seems to have followed the suggestions of Mr. Berton. Instead of maintaining the attitude of compassionate tradition with evangelical witness, the authorities chose the easy, or “wide path” of compromise with the standards of society (which were more and more distanced from the Christian path). As a consequence, the Anglican Church of Canada shrank, rather than grew. Instead of becoming more relevant, it became more irrelevant. This choice was painful for the Byfields to observe and to endure.

Move to Edmonton, Alberta ; another school, 1967

In 1967, Ted and Virginia moved to Edmonton, Alberta, in order to found a second Saint John’s school west of the city (“Saint John’s School of Alberta”), at Genesee, Alberta, 71 km (45 mi) southwest of Edmonton. It is near the town of Stony Plain.

Until the 1980s, both the schools were operated by the Company of the Cross.

There, in Edmonton, Virginia taught French, English, grammar, and literature.

Full size family

At that time in Edmonton, Virginia gave birth to a fifth child. After that, she and Ted adopted a sixth child. In total their children were Link, Michael, Philippa, Mary Fran, Vincent and Thomas.

The schools

The schools in which Ted and Virginia were involved were all of the "Outward Bound" type of school. In such a school (at that time only for boys), the academic curriculum was of the traditional sort, with teaching of the historically fundamental subjects. Such elements as ancient history, classical literature, English grammar (perhaps French also), oratory, traditional mathematics, classical languages, geography, and the arts might be a part of such a curriculum. However, as was the case with with the education of Prince Philip (Mountbatten), and Prince Charles (Windsor), the curriculum included a very demanding physical formation in learning how to live and survive in the outdoors. Managing travel on rivers in canoes and other vessels was a part of this, as were camping and survival techniques. This part might be described as having similarities to the methods learnt by Boy Scouts. In Alberta, the curriculum included experience in the mountains.

There were 3 such schools, all of which operated in the "Outward Bound" manner : the first was Saint John's Cathedral Boys' School (early 1960s) in Selkirk, Manitoba ; the second was Saint John's School of Alberta (1967) near Stony Plain, Alberta ; the third was Saint John's School of Ontario (1977) in Toronto, Ontario. After the closure of all the schools, alumni of the schools gathered in Toronto for a reunion, and they established a Facebook group.

Ted and Virginia both loved sailing and being on the water. This involvement of the waters in the physical formation of the youth was a natural part of the life of the Byfields.

Newsmagazines

In 1973, Ted decided to return to journalism. In 1977, he and Virginia launched the “Saint John’s Edmonton Report” (a regional weekly newsmagazine modelled on the format of "Time Magazine"). Later, they produced the “Saint John’s Calgary Report” and then merged the 2 into the “Alberta Report” in 1979. “BC Report” was launched in 1989, and “Western Report” (which shared the majority of its content and layout with “Alberta Report”) began publication soon afterwards. These magazines were originally produced by the Company of the Cross, and everyone received the same “wage” ($1.00 per day), while living in a communal apartment building.

The “Alberta Report” was a magazine with a pro-Christian, pro-life, point of view. It may be useful to comprehend that for an Orthodox Christian, "pro-life" includes far more than only "anti-abortion". Nevertheless, the staff hailed from varied ideological perspectives. When the Company of the Cross launched this newsmagazine in order to assert a Christian presence in the news media, Virginia led its coverage of the diminishing role of the family in law, politics and schools.

Historical studies

Later, Virginia was a major contributor to the 12-volume “History of Alberta in the 20th Century”, which was produced by “Alberta Report”, and to the ensuing 12-volume history of Christianity, “The Christians : Their First Two Thousand Years”. Very often, this series is referred to simply as “The Christians”.

Philippa Byfield

By the time of the family's move to Edmonton, their daughter Philippa had completed her education, and she later began to work for "Alberta Report" magazine. She worked as a municipal and then legislature reporter. She also was a columnist for "The Edmonton Examiner", and she was a researcher for open-line radio. She was married to Christopher Dean, a reporter for "CFRN News". He predeceased her in 1990. Philippa then became the general secretary for the "Christian History Project" series. Philippa suffered from bi-polar disorder, but she was able to manage her responsibilities despite occasional difficulties.

Ted was required frequently to be absent in order to raise funds, and to raise the magazine’s public profile. Meanwhile, Virginia handled all the other daily practical details and difficulties. She was often called “Ginger”, an apt nickname for a woman who could be sharp, fierce and fiery in pursuit of her truth. Ted generally got credit for founding the “Alberta Report” magazine, and for being the “godfather” of Canada’s modern conservative movement. However, she was his equal co-founder, the editor who whipped 2 generations of raw reporters into shape, the no-nonsense midwife of western conservative thought. The no-nonsense disposition and the direct and tough approach was, in fact, besides being honest, a necessary element for many women in journalism in those days.

Virginia at the helm of a boat (symbolic of her life)

Virginia, the editor

“When she edited your copy, she would go right to the point”, said Mark Stevenson, editor-in-chief of “Maclean’s Magazine”. “If there was a hole in your story, she would zero in on it — and look at you like you were an idiot”.

“She was the crustiest editor I ever had”, recalled Paul Bunner, later a Stephen Harper speech writer. “She beat up my copy when I was young and green, and taught me to be tight and direct, and those were very valuable lessons”.

She also captained some of the magazine’s more ferocious and unrelenting moral crusades against everything from changes to the Anglican liturgy to what the magazine insisted on calling sodomy.

“She was by nature very conservative, but she came out fighting on its side”, said her husband Ted. “She could be argued out of a thing, but she couldn’t be pressured out of a thing just because everyone else was against it”.

Link moves to Alberta, 1978

Their son Link Byfield moved to Alberta in 1978. There, he became an agriculture reporter of the "Alberta Report" newsmagazine. In the course of his life, he was married to Joanne, and they received from the Lord 4 children. In his development as a Christian, Link became a Roman Catholic, and he learned that he had been born on the Feast of Saint Francis de Sales, the patron of journalists.

Ted and "Atlas of Alberta", 1984

In 1986, Link succeeded his father as the publisher of "Alberta Report". Over 20 years, he mentored dozens of young journalists. He also wrote and produced 4 plays for young people during the 1990s.

The Byfield family were politically active, although Link was the most visibly so. There was support for the "Reform Party", and other conservative movements. He founded the "Citizens Centre for Freedom and Democracy" which funded to some extent various publications.

Ted

Political activity

In the 1990s, in addition to covering news from a conservative viewpoint, the “Report” magazines challenged the prevailing “Zeitgeist” with regard to crime, homosexuality, abortion, and public education.

The magazines, particularly the “Alberta Report”, articulated a growing sentiment of Western Canadian discontent and alienation. Ted Byfield was one of the inspirations behind the founding of the Reform Party of Canada, and he coined the phrase “The West Wants In”. Ted Byfield’s son, Link Byfield, the publisher, was eventually unable to staunch the periodicals’ declining circulation. The magazines were consolidated, and they ultimately ceased publication in 2003.

Ted with magazines

Going “home” to Orthodox Christianity, 1996

In 1996, Virginia and Ted embraced the Orthodox Christian Faith, and from then on they were active members of Saint Herman of Alaska’s Sobor in Edmonton. This is a large and active parish of the Archdiocese of Canada, of The Orthodox Church in America. Their daughter Philippa joined her parents in the Orthodox Christian Church.

When they entered the Orthodox Church as they did, they came from already having been active members of a Continuing Anglican Church congregation in the city. It was not because of being “conservative” that they came as they did, but rather because of being “traditional”. They came as they did because they were being faithful to, and true to Jesus Christ and His Church. They already understood (from their long experience in reading, prayer and worship) that the Orthodox Christian Faith is in itself simple. It consists mainly in living out every day the relationship of love between ourselves and God, and consequently the relationship of love with other human beings and with nature. It is, however, human beings who are complex, and who cloud this simplicity with various opinions.

One project which they very quickly undertook was the publishing of a booklet about the Orthodox Christian Faith and about Saint Herman’s parish. They and many parishioners distributed the booklet by hand to about 10,000 households in the nearby neighbourhoods of western Edmonton.

Another expression of being traditional Christians of English extraction has been the annual “Boxing Day” celebration in their home. This event would bring more than 100 people (of all sorts) into their home on the evening of 26 December. The event was open to anyone who wished to be there (rich, poor, employed, unemployed, believing, not believing, without distinction). Besides including a roasted boar’s head on the menu, along with many other shared dishes, the evening included the hearty singing of many Christmas carols of all sorts. This joyful tradition continued for more than 30 years in the Byfield home.

Ted and Virginia in later years

Participating in the Archdiocese of Canada Assembly, 2001

From 24-27 July, 2001, there was a meeting in Edmonton of the triennial Archdiocesan Assembly. Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko was the main speaker at this assembly. During this particular assembly, there were several "workshop" meetings, and Ted led one of these. It was a panel discussion entitled "Living Counter-culture".

One of the guests on this panel was a Baptist engineer from Alberta's "oil patch". He was an inspiring Christian example of courageously living "counter-culture" in his active opposition to the involvement of "Talisman Energy" in its activities as a major source of income for the Islamic Sudanese government's persecution and slaughter of both Christians and animists in Southern Sudan. Most articles about Christianity in North and South Sudan address principally the presence of Roman Catholic and Protestant missionary activity there since the 19th century. However, from the Apostolic period until the present, the Orthodox Christian Church (primarily the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria) has had a visible and active presence, in no small numbers, in that region.

Ted Byfield leading a panel discussion at the 2001 Archdiocese of Canada Assembly

Book series : “The Christians”, 2001

In 2001, Ted and Virginia, their family and their publishing company began the publication of the first volume of the multiple-volume work “The Christians : Their First Two Thousand Years”.

“The Christians” is the history of Christianity, told chronologically, epoch by epoch, century by century, beginning at Pentecost and concluding with the situation of Christians in the 21st century.

In 2006, Ted Byfield and his family founded a society, “SEARCH” (The Society to Explore And Record Christian History) in order to further the work of producing and publishing the book series “The Christians : Their First Two Thousand Years”, which had begun in the year 2000 as a private Canadian corporate initiative. With the establishment of this society, general editor Ted Byfield (using largely the same writers and researchers as before) raised sufficient charitable support to see the book project through to the completion of research and writing in January, 2013. The series consists of 12 volumes. Many people were employed in the writing, editing and production of this immense work.

Volume 1 of "The Christians"

Bereavement, 2007

On Monday, 8 October, 2007, Ted and Virginia suffered a terrible and extremely painful loss when their daughter Philippa fell asleep in the Lord after a fire that had as good as destroyed their home during the previous week. Her repose was at the University Hospital.

Philippa (born in Winnipeg) had been working together with her family, and she had become an integral presence in the parish of Saint Herman of Alaska in Edmonton. However, she had begun to suffer from a lung cancer, which ultimately confined her to home. Virginia shared in the care for her daughter. The fire broke out in Philippa's room. Although her parents and the firefighters were able to help her to safety, the burns she had sustained were too great for her to recover. She reposed in the hospital less than a week after the fire.

Because the fire produced very substantial destruction of the house, Ted and Virginia lost not only their daughter but also their home in this fire. They could survive this catastrophe only because of their trust in God.

On Thursday, 10 October, 2007, at 7:00 p.m. a Panikhida (memorial service) was served for Philippa Byfield at Saint Herman of Alaska's Sobor in Edmonton.

On Friday, 11 October, 2007, at 10:00 a.m. the Funeral Service for the Burial of a Lay-person was served at Saint Herman of Alaska's Sobor by the Archpriest Dennis Pihach and other clergy.

After the funeral services, Philippa's body was interred at Holy Cross Cemetery in Edmonton.

Ted and Virginia continue on after their bereavement

2011 "Alberta Report" reunion

Ted with Preston Manning at an "Alberta Report" reunion

In the above photo, Ted Byfield jokes with Preston Manning. His father, Ernest C Manning had been both a long-time Premier of Alberta and also an evangelical preacher.

Virginia and Ted at work reunion in 2012

Ted, in 2012

Ted in the heart of the nave of Saint Herman's Temple, 2013

Rebuilding the family home ; continuing to work

Regardless of their pain, Ted and Virginia supervised the rebuilding of their home on the same site.

Virginia carried on writing and editing, right to the end of her life, just as did her husband.

Virginia, the resolute

Virginia was described by a co-worker as being “a difficult, contradictory, exasperating and extraordinary woman — tough, smart, a disciplined writer, dedicated to her principles. We agreed on almost nothing, politically, religiously or ideologically. But she was a role model, a woman who demanded to be judged on her work, not her gender ; who never backed away from a fight ; who never surrendered her beliefs because it would be popular or easy”.

Hers was a life that was deeply committed to a resurgence of the Christian Faith, and particularly the Orthodox Christian Faith in the modern world.

Virginia herself had begun to suffer from weakness in her lungs (diagnosed as cancer), and she eventually was attending services at Saint Herman's accompanied not only by Ted, but also by an oxygen supply. She never lost her practicality nor her sense of humour in her deep Christian Faith.

Byfield family, 2019

Repose of Virginia, 2014

Virginia Byfield, reporter, editor, teacher, historian and modern-day Christian crusader, mother, wife, and grandmother, fell asleep in Christ at her home on 21 July, 2014, of cancer at the age of 85. Her husband, Ted, commented, “I’ve not only lost a wife, comrade, counsellor and favourite drinking companion, I’ve also lost my best editor. I’ve published few things over the last 40 years that didn’t undergo the severities of her edit and the profound insights of her Christian mind”. Five of her children survived her, as well as 15 grandchildren.

Virginia

After her repose, on Friday, 25 July, 2014, a panikhida was served at 7:30 p.m. at Saint Herman of Alaska's Sobor in Edmonton.

On Saturday, 26 July, 2014, at 10 a.m., at Saint Herman of Alaska's Sobor in Edmonton, the Funeral Service for the Burial of a Lay-person was served by the Priest Vincent Lehr, and other clergy.

After the funeral, Virginia's body was interred at Holy Cross Cemetery in Edmonton.

Following the services and the interment, there was a reception during the afternoon at the family home in Edmonton.

Bereavement, 2015

However, on 24 January, 2015, their son Link Byfield reposed in Saint Albert, Alberta, as a result of cancer, at age 63.

Link had been very active as a publisher, and as a politician. He was a co-founder of the "Wildrose Party", and he was a so-called "Senator-in-waiting" during attempts to change the method of choosing senators for the Parliament of Canada in Ottawa, Ontario. Link was described as being a courageous, principled and humble man.

Prayers were offered on 30 January, 2015, at 5:00 p.m. at Saint Emerence Catholic Church in Rivière Qui Barre, Alberta (22 km (14 mi) northwest of Edmonton).

The funeral mass was offered on 31 January, 2015, at 11:00 a.m. at Saint Emerence Catholic Church in Rivière Qui Barre, Alberta.

Ted continues to work and to create

In the context of all this, Ted became the president and chairman of “SEARCH”, (The “Society to Explore and Record Christian History”) and the general editor of the Christian history book series “The Christians: Their First Two Thousand Years”.

As time passed, as determined as he was, and as faithful as he was in his regular presence in the Temple (in the choir, usually) for services, Ted's health began steadily to weaken. Nothing changed about his nature, spirit and humour, but he became fragile.

In December, 2021, Ted spent some time in a hospital in Edmonton because of trouble with breathing and pain. Despite this, his family managed to get him home as soon as possible. There, with care, he was comfortable. However, it was evident that he was ending his days in this life.

Last photo of Ted with Vincent (left) Last photo of Ted (right)

Repose of Ted, 2021

On Thursday evening, 23 December, 2021, Ted Byfield fell asleep in the Lord at his home in Edmonton, in the presence of his family.

Because the regulations regarding funerals in Alberta became more restrictive just at this time (because of the situation at the time with the Covid-19 pandemic), the original schedule for the funeral was changed, and the panikhida and the funeral service were recorded on video.

At rest in the Temple

On Wednesday, 29 December, 2021, at 7:00 p.m. (for parishioners only) a Panikhida (Memorial Service), was served at Saint Herman of Alaska Sobor in Edmonton, Alberta. Archpriest Vincent Lehr, and Protodeacon Jesse Isaac served on this day.

Parish Panikhida (Memorial Service)

On Thursday, 30 December, 2021, at 11:00 a.m., the Funeral Service for the Burial of a Lay-person was offered at Saint Herman of Alaska Sobor in Edmonton, Alberta. This service was for Byfield family members only (largely because of the Coronavirus-19 pandemic rules in force at the time). It was led by Archpriest Vincent Lehr, and Protodeacon Jesse Isaac.

Funeral Service

On Thursday, 30 December, 2021, at 1:00 p.m., a public memorial service (without numerical restrictions) was served out-of-doors at the graveside at Holy Cross Cemetery. After this service, the body of Ted Byfield was interred near his wife and daughter.

Grave-marker

Ted

Reflections

Ted persevered

In 2020, Ted was continuing to work, to teach, to create and to ask the necessary questions of both society and Church.

Although Ted's numerical chronology (age) was getting noticeably higher, and he was no longer able to walk the multiple kilometres that were his custom, he did not envisage retirement. As it was said of him, "For Ted Byfield, work is all play".

He could be found most Sundays and Feast-days in Saint Herman's Sobor, where almost always he was singing amongst the basses.

In Ted Byfield's written world, there are no shades of grey. Rather, he addressed matters in straightforward terms of right and wrong, good and evil.

Ted Byfield served as an Assistant Professor in the School of Art, Media, and Technology Department of Parsons School for Design at the New School University. He worked for over a decade as a freelance book editor for academic and public-interest publishers including Cambridge University Press, the Dia Centre for the Arts, The New Press, Scribner/Macmillan, and Zone Books.

He served as a co-editor of ICANN Watch from early 2001, as co-moderator of the Nettime mailing list since 1998, and he contributed to a wide variety of conferences, amongst them Tulipomania DotCom (Amsterdam, 2000) ; the Next 5 Minutes 4 (Amsterdam, 2003) ; Library 2.0 (Yale, 2008).

His writings on subjects ranging from space photography to internet governance appeared in “First Monday”, “Frieze”, “Le Monde Diplomatique”, and “Mute” ; and he was a consultant for the BBC, “The Kitchen”, the “Open Society Institute”, and the “Waag Society for Old and New Media”, amongst others.

Canadian Encyclopaedia profile

As reported in the "Canadian Encyclopaedia", the characteristic irascibility that Ted had learnt and displayed through much of his career had softened by the age of 70 :

 Byfield regretfully acknowledges that he has indeed mellowed.  'As you get older, you don't have 
 the same energy to get mad', he says with the chesty laugh that is a Byfield trademark.  'Besides, 
 you've seen that most of the things you got mad about didn't matter anyway.  They probably would 
 have been resolved better if you hadn't blown up'.

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) comments

It was reported by the CBC that :

 Author and political commentator David Frum once wrote that 'any future historian trying to understand 
 Canada's troubles in the late 20th century will want to look at Mr. Byfield's work.  
 
 'Unless you've read Mr. Byfield, you won't ever properly understand the anger of the West at Central Canada, 
 the reasons for the destruction of the once-unbreakable Conservative grip on the West, and the birth of the 
 Reform Party', Frum wrote in the preface to Byfield's 1998 collection of back page essays, 'The Book of Ted'.

Jonathon Van Maren comments

Jonathon Van Maren wrote in "convivium.ca" :

 For more than a half-century, he was one of Canada’s most significant public Christians, and 
 his life’s work included the founding of a religious order, the formation of several Christian
 boarding schools for boys, a series of influential newsmagazines, laying the groundwork for a 
 political movement, writing books, and serving as editor on a magnificent 12-volume history of 
 Christianity, 'The Christians : Their First Two Thousand Years'.  His departure leaves a gaping 
 hole that cannot be filled.

This was an introduction to a detailed biography of Ted. During the narrative, he indicated that he may be preparing a fuller biography.

Terry O'Neill comments

Terry O'Neill, in his article about Ted Byfield ("BC Catholic", 12 January, 2021), wrote that he considered that eulogies about him did not pay enough attention to the Christian motivation behind much of Ted's (and Virginia's) writing :

 His commitment to traditional Christianity was behind his decision to write a weekly religious-affairs column, 
'Orthodoxy', the title a nod to Chesterton’s classic book of the same name. 
 
 'People have fallen into a foolish habit of speaking of orthodoxy as something heavy, humdrum, and safe',
 Chesterton wrote in that book.  'There never was anything so perilous or so exciting as orthodoxy.  It was 
 sanity : and to be sane is more dramatic than to be mad'.  Byfield’s column was a living example of the truth of 
 this insight.
 
 The column, which he co-wrote with his wife, Virginia (who predeceased him by seven years), was not aimed at
 arguing fine points of theology but, in typically combative Byfield fashion, was directed at exposing the ways
 in which the modern world misconstrued, ignored, or opposed time-tested, 'Orthodox', Christian principles and 
 practices.

He added :

 The modern idol of relativism was Ted’s great enemy.  And so it was that Ted waged unrelenting war against 
 weasel-worded politicians, relativistic moralizers, and muddle-headed educators. 
 
 I must declare here that, the more I came to understand the dimensions of this war, the more engaging, 
 engrossing, and even thrilling it became to me.

He also described Ted as "a crusading journalist and muscular Christian who loved his enemies, even while instructing them on their multiple shortcomings".

Recognition and awards

Awards and honours he has received include :

• Contributing to the winner of the 1997 Rotterdam Design Prize

• A 2002 Design Trust for Public Space Fellowship in Journalism

• A 2003 grant from the Open Society Institute

• Contributor in 2003-2004 to the Social Science Research Council’s Information Technology and International Cooperation workgroup

• He served as a Visiting Fellow with the Information Society Project, Yale Law School (2008-2010).

Writings

Books

• “Alberta in the 20th Century : A Journalistic History of the Province in 12 Volumes” (Edmonton : United Western Communications, 2003).

• “The Book of Ted : Epistles from an unrepentant redneck” (Atlanta, GA : Keystone Press : 1998).

• “The Christians: Their First Two Thousand Years”, 12 volumes (Alexandria, VA : Christian History Project, 2003).

• “A Brief History of Information”, Part 1.

• “A Brief History of Information”, Part 2.

• “How to Lie with Analytics”.

• “Just think, Mr. Berton” (The Company of the Cross, 1965). ASIN : B000GW6BHS

• “The Deplorable Unrest in the Colonies” (Self published, 1983). ASIN : B002OKZWF2.

Magazines

• "Alberta Report" Newsmagazine

• "BC Report" Newsmagazine

• "Western Report" Newsmagazine

References

Canadian Encyclopedia article about Ted Byfield

Convivium.ca biography of Ted Byfield

“Freeman Families of Nova Scotia and Their Ancestors and Descendants and Allied Families : A Genealogy with Biographical Sketches”, Volume 2 (Madison, Wisconsin : Freeman Family Trust, 1986 ; The University of Wisconsin, digitised 17 Jun 2008, p. 1001 (about Virginia Nairn)

Van Maren, Jonathon, “Prairie Lion : the Life & Times of Ted Byfield” (Edmonton : Society to Explore and Research Christian History, 2022). ISBN : 978-0-9869396-6-2.

Wikipedia article about Link Byfield

Wikipedia article about Ted Byfield

Additional information :

Brean, Joseph, ‘Ted Byfield dead at 93 : Journalist was a Catalyst for the Rise of Western Conservatism'’ in the “Edmonton Journal”

Cosh, Colby, ‘The greatest story Ted Byfield ever told' in "Macleans Magazine”

Dee, Emily, “Ted Byfield and the Company of the Cross”

Ghandi, Unnati, ‘Death of Philippa Byfield’ in “The Globe and Mail”

Gunter, Lorne, ‘Legacy of Ted Byfield looms large over Canadian Journalism and Conservatism’ in the “Edmonton Sun”

......, ‘90th Birthday Tribute to Ted Byfield, a looming Figure for Conservatives’ in the “Edmonton Sun”

Quill, Greg, ‘Ted Byfield : The prairie Lion in Winter’ in “The Toronto Star”

Simons, Paula, ‘Virgina Byfield was the Midwife of Prairie Conservatism’ in the “Calgary Herald”

Taylor, Peter Shawn, ‘The Passing of a Prairie Lion : Ted Byfield, 1928-2021’ in “C2C”