In Big Men Fear Me: The Fast Life and Quick Death of Canada’s Most Powerful Media Mogul, Bourrie tells the remarkable story of George McCullagh, who as a 31-year-old high school drop out bought The Globe and The Mail and Empire in the middle of the Great Depression and merged them into the Globe and Mail.
The book, published to rave reviews in October by Biblioasis, describes themeteoric rise of a man widely expected to one day be prime minister of Canada and who had already made millions on the stock market. But the charismatic McCullagh had a dark side. Dogged by the bipolar disorder that destroyed his political ambitions and eventually killed him, he was all but written out of history.
David Marks Shribman wrote, in the Literary Review of Canada: “Mark Bourrie’s remarkable—and long overdue—biography of one of the most consequential and least remembered Canadians of the past century … Bourrie toiled for years to resurrect [George McCullagh], but, I’m glad to say, he did not wipe away the carbuncles, boils, and blisters. His portrait of a man who once was among Canada’s most powerful figures is, to choose two apt terms, both melancholy and masterly.”
Fundamental Law for Journalists, published this year by Irwin Law, gives journalists a primer on criminal and civil law, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, public law, legal research tools and basic procedure.
Bourrie created the book as a guide to help journalists “get it right.”
“This book will give you some idea of fundamental law and legal principles and show you how to check to ensure what you think is law is still, in fact, law,” Bourrie writes.
“Better to learn them from a book than read about your error in a letter to the editor or end up issuing a correction because your legal knowledge came up short or was outdated.”
He dedicates the book to Professor Adam Dodek, who taught him constitutional law.
Said Bourrie: “I was inspired by Prof. Dodek's book The Canadian Constitution, which is an affordable introduction to Canada's Constitution. It's been a popular book with students and people who are interested in knowing how the country works.”
Besides his uOttawa JD, Bourrie graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Waterloo. He also holds a diploma in public policy and administration from the University of Guelph, a master's degree in journalism from Carleton University, and a doctorate in Canadian media history from the University of Ottawa.
Bourrie's PhD thesis was on Canada's World War II press censorship system and was published by Douglas & McIntyre as "The Fog of War".
The Globe and Mail described another of his books Bushrunner: The Adventures of Pierre Radisson, a biography of French fur trader and adventurer Pierre Radisson, as "a significant contribution to the history of 17th-century North America". The book won the RBC Taylor Prize for non-fiction in 2020, the last time the prize was awarded.
Bourrie was a journalist from 1978 until 2017. His articles have appeared in most Canadian newspapers and been published in many Canadian magazines including Toronto Life, Saturday Night, Maclean’s, Canadian Business, Canadian Lawyer, The National and Ottawa magazine. He won a National Magazine Award and was nominated for a National Newspaper Award.
He is a member of the Bar of Ontario concentrating on media law and cases that have a nexus between law and politics.