Definitive Lightfoot Biography Coming

May 9, 2017. Toronto, Canada 

Penguin Canada Publisher Nicole Winstanley and Publishing Director Diane Turbide are proud to announce the forthcoming publication of LIGHTFOOT by Nicholas Jennings. The book will be published under the Viking Canada imprint on September 26, 2017; the deal was negotiated by agent Jackie Kaiser of Westwood Creative Artists.

"We're thrilled to be publishing what will be the definitive biography of one of Canada's best singer-songwriters," says Turbide. "Nick Jennings has had a long-standing relationship with Gordon Lightfoot, and his book enlarges our understanding of how an inspired songwriter works. I think it's going to delight Lightfoot fans as well as attract new ones."

From the tender ballad of "Beautiful" to the historical lament of "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," Lightfoot's songs have enchanted fans for more than fifty years. His works have been performed by musicians from around the world, including Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and Gord Downie. In addition to winning nearly every Canadian music award, Lightfoot was inducted into the American Songwriters Hall of Fame alongside such luminaries as Leonard Cohen and Dylan; it honoured him as a singer who helped "define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and '70s."

Jennings has had unprecedented access to the notoriously reticent musician for nearly two decades. He chronicles Lightfoot's beginnings as a songwriter to his heyday in concert halls around the globe to his continued touring successes. In creating an in-depth portrait of "the bard of Canada" he draws on reminiscences from family, friends, musical greats, and industry insiders.

NICHOLAS JENNINGS was the music critic for Maclean's magazine from 1980 to 2000 before becoming a freelance writer. He has reviewed thousands of recordings and profiled many of the world's leading artists, from Oscar Peterson, Paul Simon, Mick Jagger, and Paul McCartney to Joni Mitchell, Sarah McLachlan, and Diana Krall. His previous books include Before the Gold Rush: Flashbacks to the Dawn of the Canadian Sound and Fifty Years of Music: The Story of EMI Music Canada. He lives in Toronto.