History is not confined to textbooks. It exists in the memories of those who lived it. For Mark Zuehlke — an author, military historian and distinguished TRU alum — uncovering these memories has become his life’s work. His dedication to chronicling Canada’s wartime past has earned him one of the nation’s highest honours: being named a Member of the Order of Canada.
Mark Zuehlke
“My role in life is to find the forgotten stories,” he says, crediting his Great Uncle Fred, a veteran of WWI who lost an arm in battle at Vimy Ridge, with sparking his interest in military lore at early age.
Seeing war through the eyes of Uncle Fred inspired young Zuehlke to learn all he could about Canadian military history. A chance conversation with other veterans years later, following a Remembrance Day ceremony, proved pivotal. Their gripping account of the Battle of Ortona during WWII captured his attention. He investigated and found that details of the battle, Canada’s first major triumph of the war, hadn’t been shared widespread. Years later, his book, Ortona, would fill that gap.
“That was really what led me into writing the kind of books I do, which is very much from the soldier’s view,” he said in a 2007 interview, shortly after receiving TRU’s Distinguished Alumni Award (DAA).
Zuehlke found veterans often avoided discussing their combat experiences, but he managed to elicit detailed accounts, sometimes emotional and always harrowing. Carolyn Swayze, Zuehlke’s former literary agent, praised his thorough, sensitive storytelling.
“Mark’s body of literary works have made an incredible difference to so many Canadians, people who had no idea what their fathers, uncles, grandparents and sometimes grandmothers and aunts, endured. Mark has captured those stories in a meticulous and compassionate way and detailed the accounts of their experiences faithfully,” she said when Zuehlke received his DAA.
Author’s work garners recognition
Zuehlke’s contributions to preserving military history have not gone unnoticed. He has received multiple awards and accolades, including the 2014 Governor General’s History Award for Popular Media: The Pierre Berton Award, and most recently, the Order of Canada.
“It’s still a pinch-me moment,” he says. “I knew of other authors who had received it, but I never really expected it to happen to me. I never anticipated being able to spend the better part of my career writing miliary history.”
In the 1970s, Zuehlke studied journalism at Cariboo College (now TRU) before receiving his history degree from the University of Waterloo. He then worked as a community news reporter and freelance journalist. As his experience grew, he began teaching courses on writing at Okanagan College, eventually collaborating on his first book, Magazine Writing from the Boonies, in 1992. He has been steadily churning out work since, with around 30 books to his credit, including 13 volumes in the Canadian Battle Series, beginning with Ortona.
In addition to non-fiction work, Zuehlke has published several fiction novels in the Elias McCann Mysteries, based on Vancouver Island, where Zuehlke has lived for over 30 years. He is currently focused on a collaboration with the Canadian Artillery Association and the next installment in the Canadian Battle Series, The Maple Leaf Versus the Sun.
Now approaching 70, Zuehlke contemplates semi-retirement but acknowledges that his passion for storytelling will likely keep him writing.
“I really think the only way you can achieve a dream is if you really go after it,” he says.
For Zuehlke, every story unearthed, and every book written ensures that Canada’s history — its triumphs and sacrifices — remains alive for generations to come.
