Citizens Irving

by John Demont

"Forbes magazine has listed K.C. Irving as the richest man in North America and Europe, the third richest non-monarch in the world. Citizen Irving is the story of the business empire he built. It is also the story of Canada's wealthiest family - and one of its most secretive. John DeMont, Halifax bureau chief for Maclean's magazine, has written a controversial book telling how the patriarch of the family, K.C. Irving, starting 65 years ago in his tiny home town of Bouctouche, New Brunswick, built an empire estimated at more than $7 billion, all without ever having to leave his economically depressed home province. This book sheds fresh light on this secretive 92-year-old, known simply as K.C., who has emerged victorious over small competitors, faced down multinational oil companies, and battled provincial and federal governments in his drive for wealth and power. Citizens Irving also portrays K.C.'s sons, the economic and political power they have inherited, and the way they run their companies. It details the family's holdings in the Maritimes and the U.S., where the empire has expanded widely, particularly into Maine; the Irvings' recent conflict with New Brunswick's other dynastic family, the McCains; and the domination of the Maritimes' economy by the Irvings that makes it almost impossible to live or travel there without contributing to the Irving companies' success. JOHN DeMONT is uniquely qualified to write this book. In his ten years in Canadian journalism he has been a columnist and reporter in Calgary and in Toronto for the Financial Post, and a senior writer for Maclean's magazine. DeMont, who was born in Halifax and is currently Maclean's bureau chief there, co-authored the Financial Post Guide To Mutual Funds and Hong Kong Money." [from flap]

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

253 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1991