Mr. Brown wins big

• Posted on February 8, 2010 at 2:56 PM
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Mr. Brown

A lot of you will have enjoyed Ian Brown's pieces in explore magazine over the last decade. Most recently, he wrote in our September/October 2008 issue about the experience of riding Canada's biggest roller-coaster with his daughter. That story—"Man vs. Behemoth"—won a Gold at the National Magazine Awards.

Well, Ian has just won a much bigger award for his most recent book—The Boy in the Moon. A couple of hours ago, he picked up the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction at a luncheon here in Toronto. The award is considered one of the most prestigious book prizes in the country, and comes with a $25,000 cheque. (Two other explore contributors have won this prize in previous years—J.B. MacKinnon in 2006 and Charles Montgomery in 2005.)

Ian's book has already won one of the other most prestigious prizes in the country: British Columbia's National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction. (That award came with a cheque for $40,000.)

I am, of course, thrilled that Ian won. Partly because he's one of this country's very best writers, and he deserves the acclaim. But I'm also pleased that, as a result of the awards, more and more people will undoubtedly read The Boy in the Moon. It tells the story of Ian's son Walker, who has a very rare genetic disorder. Not only does the book reveal the difficulties that Ian and his wife Johanna have faced in raising Walker, but it also reveals some of the things that they have learned from their son.

The Boy in the Moon is at times disturbing, but ultimately I found it rather uplifting. If you haven't read the book, I'd highly recommend it.

Congratulations, Mr. Brown.