Ralph Pickard Bell: A Biography
W. John E. Williams
2000, 71pp, soft cover, ISBN: 1-896496-22-9

No where in the history of the Maritime provinces is there a more colourful and controversial figure than Halifax-born industrialist, Ralph Pickard Bell. With an iron will and a vocabulary as foul as his temper, he triumphantly presided over some of the most influential businesses of his time: The Lockeport Company, Pickford and Black, National Sea Products Ltd. and The Halifax Insurance Company, to name just a few.

From Bell's celebrated stint as Mount Allison University's inaugural chancellor to his turbulent term as a "dollar-a-year" man during World War II, John Williams provides an intriguing look at the highs and lows of a man who, even twenty-five years after his death, continues to be both loathed and revered.

"... a balanced, warts-and-all portrait of an important Maritime entrepreneur and philanthropist." W.G. Godfrey, Professor of History, Mount Allison University