John Firth

John was raised in Dawson City, Yukon, where the Klondike Gold Rush was his backyard. He worked as a journalist, sewer rat, heavy equipment operator, prospector, public relations director, theatre owner and financial planner before retiring to become a full-time writer.

He served nine years as chair of Yukon Foundation, two years as president of Yukon Quest International and was the founding president of the Yukon River Quest - the Race to the midnight sun and the world's longest annual professional paddling race. In 1997 he was awarded the Yukon Commissioner's Award for his work in preserving Yukon history and culture. Rotary International also honored him with a Paul Harris Fellowship - even though he's not a member of Rotary - for his work with PolioPlus.

He has written five books and collaborated on six others on northern and Yukon history. In 2011 his book 'One Mush: Jamaica's Dogsled Team' was shortlisted for the Writers Digest Best Independently Published Book Awards and was an International Book Award award-winning finalist.

He currently lives in Whitehorse, Yukon.