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Preston Manning: The Roots of Reform
Greystone Books, Vancouver/Toronto
228 pages; hardcover; $27.95
Preston Manning is a riddle, wrapped in an enigma, trapped in the body of a nerd. At least that is the impression you get from reading the latest biography of the Reform Party chief, by Alberta author Frank Dabbs. It
covers his life and times through to his coronation as leader of Her Majesty's Official Opposition following the 1997 federal election, but at page 228 he remains as elusive as before. A private man thrust into public life, he clearly is not one to let journalists poke into the dusty corners of his mind.
Preston Manning's reserve may derive from his legendary father, the taciturn E.C. Manning, a tough act to follow. Alberta's provincial secretary at 26, Manning pere simultaneously co-hosted Social Credit Premier William Aberhart's Back to the Bible Hour radio show. He nearly died from tuberculosis brought on by overwork while trying to implement Social Credit policies widely accused of being quasi-fascist. When he became Alberta's eighth premier in 1943 after Aberhart's death, he picked his first cabinet while shingling his roof, recording his choices on a brown paper bag. His home number was listed in the phone book, and...