Because of all he does to discover, disseminate and preserve lore about the province he's adored all his life, Toronto publisher Barry Penhale is often called Mr. Ontario.

But it's actually Santa Claus he most resembles with his noble mien, white hair and beard. And that's exactly who Penhale is to myriad fans of Canadiana - Ontario and otherwise - here and around the world.

The courtly septuagenarian is also viewed as a giftgiver by scores of authors whose heartfelt books on all manner of home-grown topics might never have been printed if Penhale hadn't founded Natural Heritage Books in 1983 and doggedly published about 10 non-fiction titles a year ever since.

While so many others perennially anguish about the state of Canadian culture, Penhale's tiny Toronto-based company has quietly gone about building an extensive catalogue of works that examine and extol what he calls our "collective heritage" - grossing between $300,000 and $500,000 annually in the process.

Ken Kerr, Business Edge
Barry Penhale's company will be honored this fall by the Toronto Public Library for supporting Canadian writers.

While his chosen mission is "sharing Canadian stories," Penhale says "it bowls me over a wee bit" to think of the astonishing range of titles he has midwifed within that mandate. They encompass forgotten chapters of Canadian history, unrecognized Canadian heroes and accomplishments, chronicles of immigrants and pioneers, celebrations of the country's parks, rivers and other natural wonders, and histories of many of its venerable communities.

A glance through Natural Heritage's current catalogue yields such intriguing titles as: Birds of Ontario, Canoeing a Continent, The Scottish Pioneers of Upper Canada, 200 Years Yonge, The Real Winnie: A One-of-a-Kind Bear, Mary Janeway: The Legacy of a Home Child, Buckskin & Broadcloth: A Celebration of E. Pauline Johnson-Tekahionwake, The Queen's Bush Settlement: Black Pioneers 1839-1865 and an up-to-the-minute look at Stephen Lewis's work called If I Had a Million Dollars … I'd Ease the Pain of HIV/AIDS in Africa, which was published pro bono.

Occasionally, the book topics seem so esoteric that Penhale's colleagues at larger publishing houses actually burst out laughing. That's what he says happened a few years back, when he announced the release of a book about the history of Canadian pianos called Downright Upright. But - as has happened so often over the past 22 years - Penhale had the last laugh when all 2,500 copies of the initial print run sold in just two months.

"There's a desperate need for the niche Barry has chosen, which is to tell and teach Ontario and Canadian history in ways that stick, and in a style that's a great bridge between commercial and academic," says McMaster University professor Bob Henderson. His own book, Every Trail Has a Story: Heritage Travel in Canada, was released by Penhale's press in May.

Among Penhale's other admirers are teachers of English, history and social studies and booksellers from coast to coast. Says Suzanne Brooks, owner of Gulliver's Quality Books in North Bay and past president of the Canadian Booksellers Association: "Barry is one of those old-fashioned publishers with a style and even a grace who have built the publishing industry in Canada."

So respected by grateful librarians is Natural Heritage Books that the Toronto Public Library system plans to honour the company this fall as one of the best of the small Canadian presses "that support a vibrant Canadian publishing industry," says Susan Caron, TPL's manager of collections.

She says Natural Heritage titles are "extremely popular with the large and diverse clientele we serve, especially people who appreciate the books' more personal approach to telling stories about Canada that we're often unaware of."

Another of Penhale's laudable activities, says Caron, "is reprinting important authors whose books have gone out of print and perhaps been forgotten by a new generation.”

Search and rescue is Penhale's term for this arm of his business, which also includes buying rights to books whose larger publishers are no longer promoting them.

A prime example of this, and another last laugh for Penhale, is Scotland Farewell: The People of the Hector, a history of the single biggest crossing ever by Scottish immigrants to Nova Scotia written by Donald MacKay. "We took it over from a major publisher that was selling only about 65 copies a year and got sales up to more than 1,000 a year - proof, I think, that a smaller publisher sometimes can give authors and books the kind of personal attention that larger houses can't."

So how did Penhale become such a champion to so many people? It was via a seemingly bumpy route that, in retrospect, actually seems as direct as that of a homing pigeon. He says it all began when he "lost himself in books" growing up in west-end Toronto as the only child of parents who were avid readers and outdoor enthusiasts.

In truth, Penhale found himself in those books, especially the ones that inspired his lifelong love and ultimate vocation - tomes about Ontario and Canada.

An athlete when he wasn't reading, his dream of becoming a professional football player was curtailed by a flareup of the polio he'd suffered as a youngster.

Skipping university, Penhale embarked on a broadcasting career, working first in radio at a station owned by the original voice of Hockey Night in Canada, Foster Hewitt. When television arrived in Canada in the early 1950s, Penhale jumped into the deep end as a producer, interviewer and even a publicist for stations in Sudbury and North Bay.

He was then lured back home to Toronto by offers from CBC and later TVOntario to produce and frequently host documentaries and interview shows on topics for which he was by now recognized as an expert - Ontario and Canada.

Along the way, Penhale met and married wife Jane, become the father of two daughters and founded a national magazine called The Outdoorsman, which was popular here and in the United States throughout the 1960s. He also wrote several books, including A Stringerful of Memories and Grassroots Artisans, and hit the lecture circuit. And, oh yes, he somehow found time to write a fishing column for The Globe and Mail.

Penhale says he became a publisher almost by serendipity in the late 1970s as a favour to the author of a book about legendary Canadian strongman Louis Cyr. He made a deal for his friend with Vancouver's Mitchell Press and, in turn, that company hired him as its eastern manager. Soon afterward, Penhale founded his own publishing company, Amethyst Books. But with his decision to follow his heart by choosing to pursue a single niche came a name change to Natural Heritage Books.

He chuckles at being described as Canada's stealth publisher, but doesn't disagree. Working out of modest digs with a staff of only three and minimal overhead, Penhale somehow manages to create anything but a humble image domestically and internationally.

One crucial key in pulling this off is having a professional commissioned sales force across the country and devoting significant time to promoting each new book. Another is that Penhale makes certain that Natural Heritage snags a handsome booth and a plum location near major publishers at most important book fairs.

These efforts pay off handsomely, he says, in that domestically his books are stocked by nearly all Canadian booksellers, large and small. And more and more, foreign language rights to his titles are being sought.

How gratifying is all this to Mr. Ontario? Plenty, he acknowledges with a quiet smile. "I'm truly one of those people who couldn't tell you what I had for breakfast yesterday. But I can talk about Ontario and Canadian history and stories till the cows come home."

(Terry Poulton can be reached at poulton@businessedge.ca)