Books

Coal Black Heart: The story of coal and the lives it ruled

The global saga of coal told through John’s ancestors.

“There is history big and small here, heroism and heartbreak and humanity in all its diversity. Coal Black Heart is an epic tale and a compelling one-John DeMont’s prose grabs you by the shirt collar and keeps you turning the pages.”

—D’Arcy Jenish, author of Epic Wanderer: David Thompson and the Opening of the West.

Read more about Coal Black Heart…

The Last Best Place: Lost in the Heart of Nova Scotia

John’s road book about his home province.

“A lovely book about a special place. DeMont is wry but accepting, cool-eyed but never carping, loving but never sentimental. A book by a man who lives where his heart is.”

—Marq de Villiers, author of Water: The Fate of Our Most Precious Resource, which won the Governor General’s Award for Non-Fiction.

“No review can do this book the justice it deserves….DeMont has captured the essence of Nova Scotia like a genie in a bottle.”

—The New Glasgow Evening News.

“Rambling, witty and full of surprising insights…with its quirky blend of facts and opinions, the Last Best Place is an upbeat but unsentimental look at Nova Scotia in the 1990s.”

—The (Halifax) Sunday Herald.

Citizens Irving: K.C. Irving and his legacy

How the uber-wealthy-and secretive-Irving clan built Canada’s greatest fortune in little, old New Brunswick.

“…a detailed, anecdotal, humorous and satirical look New Brunswick’s first family.”

—The Financial Times (of Canada).

“John DeMont has done a superb job in ripping aside the veil of secrecy from New Brunswick’s powerful Irvings.”

—The Financial Post.

Magazine Articles

John was nominated for a national magazine award for this story which appeared in Canadian Georgraphic. He received another NMA nomination for this one. Here’s his most recent article in the Walrus magazine.

Speeches

John writes speeches for a wide range of business and political leaders.

Corporate Writing
and Consulting

John has provided a wide variety of writing and communications services to a diverse group of corporate and business clients. Among them:

• Nova Scotia Power Inc.: website content.
• Bristol Group: since early 2008 principal writer, InsideThink, Atlantic Canada’s leading journal of public opinion. A variety of reports and other writing projects.
• Nova Scotia Department of Health: website content.
• Nova Scotia College of Art and Design: wrote the university’s 2008 strategic plan.
• Nova Scotia Department of Tourism, Culture & Heritage: wrote the 2006 tourism plan.
• Halifax International Airport Authority: wrote copy for 2006 annual report.
• RRFB Nova Scotia: wrote copy for 2007 annual report.