John Bishop Ballem, QC, LL.D, (1925-2010) was a Calgary novelist, attorney, legal scholar and poet. An expert horseman and former Navy pilot, John travelled extensively throughout the world, including the North Pole in 2005, Easter Island and Antarctica in 2006, and the South Pole in January 2009. He published 14 novels, a volume of poetry, numerous short stories, and a textbook on oil and gas law, now in its 4th edition.
His second to last novel, A Victim of Convenience, was published by Dundurn in 2006. The Oil Patch Quartet, an omnibus volume of four of his previously published novels set in the Alberta oil patch, was a Calgary bestseller in 2005.
Selected Bibliography
Novels:
The Devil’s Lighter. General Publishing, 1973
The Dirty Scenario. General Publishing, 1974
The Judas Conspiracy (reissued as Alberta Alone). General Publishing, 1976
The Moon Pool. McClelland & Steward, 1978
Sacrifice Play. Ballantine Books, 1980
The Marigot Run. Ballantine Books, 1984
Oilpatch Empire. McClelland & Stewart, 1985
Death Spiral. Plains Publishing, 1989
The Barons. Gorman & Gorman, 1991
Manchineel. A Castle Street Mystery/Dundurn, 2000
Murder as a Fine Art. A Castle Street Mystery/Dundurn, 2002
The Oil Patch Quartet. Cormorant Books, 2005
A Victim of Convenience. A Castle Street Mystery/Dundurn, 2006
Poetry:
Lovers & Friends, 2000
Non–fiction:
The Oil and Gas Lease in Canada. University of Toronto Press, 1973, 1985, 1999, 2008
Awards:
Canadian Petroleum Law Award
Starving Romantic Poets Prize
Shortlisted, Arthur Ellis Award for Best Short Story, 1998, for “Rigged to Blow”
