Daniel Francis

Reading the National Narrative

Rolf Knight, RIP

Jun 30, 2019

A sad start to the summer. Another BC writer passes on.

Rolf Knight, who died on June 22 at the age of 83, wrote a couple of essential books about the province and the city. I am thinking of Indians at Work, his 1978 history of Indigenous peoples' contribution to the BC economy, and Along the No. 20 Line, his entirely original 1980 memoir/history of the Vancouver waterfront. The fact that both books have been reissued over the years speaks to their continued importance.

A few years ago I wrote a short review of Knight's autobiography, Voyage Through the Past Century, for Geist magazine.