John Allen Livingston (November 10, 1923 – January 17, 2006) was a Canadian naturalist, broadcaster, author, and teacher. He was most known as the voice-over of the ''

Hinterland Who's Who ''Hinterland Who's Who'' is a Canadian series of 60-second public service announcements profiling Canadian animals, produced by Environment Canada Wildlife Service and the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) in the 1960s and 70s, and re-launched b ...

'' series of television zoological shorts in the 1960s. Born in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...

, he enlisted in the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack s ...

at the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and earned a degree in

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

in 1943 while on active service.Sandra Martin, "John Livingston, naturalist 1923-2006". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', January 28, 2006. He joined the Audubon Society of Canada in 1955 as managing director and editor of its newsletter. He later became head of the science unit at the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

(CBC), most notably serving as the first executive producer of the long-running documentary series ''

The Nature of Things ''The Nature of Things'' (also, ''The Nature of Things with David Suzuki'') is a Canadian television series of documentary programs. It debuted on CBC Television on 6 November 1960. Many of the programs document nature and the effect that hum ...

''. He left the CBC in 1968, but remained an occasional contributor of documentary films to ''The Nature of Things'', most notably the

Canadian Film Award The Canadian Film Awards were the leading Canadian cinema awards from 1949 until 1978. These honours were conducted annually, except in 1974 when a number of Quebec directors withdrew their participation and prompted a cancellation. In the 1970s ...

-winning ''

Wild Africa Wild, wild, wilds or wild may refer to: Common meanings * Wild animal * Wilderness, a wild natural environment * Wildness, the quality of being wild or untamed Art, media and entertainment Film and television * ''Wild'' (2014 film), a 2014 Am ...

'' in 1970."Special to Focus on Game Reserves"
. ''

Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The ...

'', February 20, 1970. p. 81. He then formed LDL: Environmental Research Associates, an environmental consulting company, with Aird Lewis and Bill Gunn of the

Nature Conservancy of Canada The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is a private, non-profit, charitable nature conservation and restoration organization based in Canada. Since its founding in 1962, the organization and its partners have protected of land and water across ...

; the firm became most noted for their work on the

Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry {{No footnotes, date=April 2009 The Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry, also known as the Berger Inquiry after its head Justice Thomas Berger, was commissioned by the Government of Canada on March 21, 1974, to investigate the social, environmental, ...

. Livingston was the author of several books, including ''The Fallacy of Wildlife Conservation'' (1981) and the

Governor General's Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...

-winning ''Rogue Primate'' (

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

).Ray Conlogue, "Wiebe wins Governor-General's prize: Edmonton author among 14 recipients at elegant Montreal ceremony". ''

'', November 16, 1994. In his later years, he was a professor emeritus of

environmental studies Environmental studies is a multidisciplinary academic field which systematically studies human interaction with the environment. Environmental studies connects principles from the physical sciences, commerce/economics, the humanities, and social ...

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

Selected bibliography

*''Darwin and the Galapagos'' (1966) (with

Lister Sinclair Lister Sheddon Sinclair, OC (January 9, 1921 – October 16, 2006) was a Canadian broadcaster, playwright and polymath. Early life Sinclair was born in Bombay, India, to Scottish parents. His father, William Sheddon Sinclair, was a chemical eng ...

) *''Birds of the Northern Forest'' (1966) (with J. F. Lansdowne) *''Arctic Oil'' (1981) *''The Fallacy of Wildlife Conservation'' (1981) *''Canada: A Natural History'' (1988) *''Rogue Primate: An Exploration of Human Domestication'' (1994) *''One Cosmic Instant'' (1968)

References

1923 births 2006 deaths 20th-century Canadian non-fiction writers 20th-century Canadian male writers Canadian television personalities Canadian television producers Canadian nature writers Canadian naturalists Canadian environmentalists Canadian male non-fiction writers Canadian people of British descent Writers from Hamilton, Ontario Governor General's Award-winning non-fiction writers Canadian Screen Award winners Canadian documentary film directors Film directors from Ontario Directors of Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners for Best Documentary Film Academic staff of York University Royal Canadian Navy personnel of World War II {{Canada-tv-bio-stub