Philip Lee is a writer, teacher, father and grandfather who began his career as an investigative reporter on Canada’s east coast. For the past two decades, Lee has taught Journalism, Communications, and Great Books at St. Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick. His latest book, Restigouche: The Long Run of the Wild River, won the New Brunswick Book Award for Non-Fiction and the Governor General’s Award in translation. 

Lee’s first book, Home Pool: The Fight to Save the Atlantic Salmon, told the story of the decline of a species from New Brunswick, Quebec, Iceland and Scotland and was honoured by the Canadian Association of Journalists as the nation’s best investigative work. Lee’s biography of former New Brunswick premier Frank McKenna, Frank: The Life and Politics of Frank McKenna, was a national best seller. His exploration of love and families, Bittersweet: Confessions of a Twice-Married Man, was long-listed for the BC Award for Non-Fiction. 

As founding Director of the Journalism program at St. Thomas, Lee created successful academic programs in Journalism, Communications, Public Policy and helped launch the careers of countless young Canadian journalists. He also developed the Dalton Camp lecture series, broadcast by CBC’s Ideas programme since 2002. Lee has edited and published a collection of essays from the Camp Lecture called The Next Big Thing. Lee spends as much time as he is able following the currents of rivers by canoe and exploring the valley of the Wolastoq by sailboat.