Richard Henry Gardyn Bonnycastle (August 25, 1903 - September 29, 1968) was a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 lawyer

Lawyer

A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

, fur trade

Fur trade

The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...

r, adventurer, and a businessman who helped found and then owned the romance novel

Romance novel

The romance novel is a literary genre developed in Western culture, mainly in English-speaking countries. Novels in this genre place their primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Through the late...

 publishing company, Harlequin Enterprises.

Born in Binscarth, Manitoba

Binscarth, Manitoba

Binscarth is a village in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Russell. It is located approximately northwest of Brandon and south from the town of Russell, Manitoba. The Manitoba government established the community in 1886. The Northwestern Railway...

, Richard was the first of the six children Ellen Boulton and her husband Angus L. Bonnycastle, a lawyer and provincial politician. http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/people/bonnycastle_al.shtml He was educated at University of Trinity College

University of Trinity College

The University of Trinity College, informally referred to as Trin, is a college of the University of Toronto, founded in 1851 by Bishop John Strachan. Trinity was intended by Strachan as a college of strong Anglican alignment, after the University of Toronto severed its ties with the Church of...

 in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

 and at England's

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 Oxford University where he toured Europe as a member of the university's ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 team which included a future Prime Minister of Canada

Prime Minister of Canada

The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...

, Lester Pearson, and a future Governor General of Canada

Governor General of Canada

The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...

, Roland Michener

Roland Michener

Daniel Roland Michener , commonly known as Roland Michener, was a Canadian lawyer, politician, and diplomat who served as Governor General of Canada, the 20th since Canadian Confederation....

.

In 1925, Richard Bonnycastle went to work for the Hudson's Bay Company

Hudson's Bay Company

The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...

. Between 1926 and 1937 he worked as a junior accountant before winding up as district manager for its western Arctic

Arctic

The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...

 operations. In 1984, his diaries of the years he spent in the north were edited and compiled by journalist and author Heather Robertson

Heather Robertson

Heather Robertson is a Canadian journalist, novelist and non-fiction writer. She published her first book, Reservations are for Indians, in 1970, and her latest book, Walking into Wilderness, in 2010. She was a founding member of the Writers' Union of Canada and the Professional Writers...

 and published as A Gentleman Adventurer: The Arctic Diaries of R.H.G. Bonnycastle. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=k0YwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=r6UFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3030,692673&dq=richard+bonnycastle&hl=en

In 1931, Richard Bonnycastle married Mary Northwood. The couple had three children.

Harlequin Enterprises

In 1945 Bonnycastle went to work for Advocate Printers in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Harlequin was founded in 1949 as a partnership between Advocate Printers, Doug Weld of Bryant Press in Toronto, and Jack Palmer who was then head of the Canadian distributor for the Saturday Evening Post and the Ladies' Home Journal

Ladies' Home Journal

Ladies' Home Journal is an American magazine which first appeared on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century in the United States...

. Created as a publishing operation to reprint low-cost paperback

Paperback

Paperback, softback or softcover describe and refer to a book by the nature of its binding. The covers of such books are usually made of paper or paperboard, and are usually held together with glue rather than stitches or staples...

 novels, Harlequin initially focused on mystery fiction

Mystery fiction

Mystery fiction is a loosely-defined term.1.It is often used as a synonym for detective fiction or crime fiction— in other words a novel or short story in which a detective investigates and solves a crime mystery. Sometimes mystery books are nonfiction...

, westerns

American Old West

The American Old West, or the Wild West, comprises the history, geography, people, lore, and cultural expression of life in the Western United States, most often referring to the latter half of the 19th century, between the American Civil War and the end of the century...

 and cookbook

Cookbook

A cookbook is a kitchen reference that typically contains a collection of recipes. Modern versions may also include colorful illustrations and advice on purchasing quality ingredients or making substitutions...

s. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/18740829.html?dids=18740829:18740829&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Sep+21%2C+1996&author=By+Philip+Marchand+Toronto+Star&pub=Toronto+Star&desc=The+Merchants+Of+Venus%3A+Inside+Harlequin+And+The+Empire+Of+Romance+By+Paul+Grescoe+Raincoast+Books%2C+309+pages%2C+%2429.95&pqatl=google In the early 1950s, Richard Bonnycastle obtained a twenty-five percent ownership in the struggling Harlequin operation and soon would acquire seventy-five percent of what was a business teetering on the edge of collapse. A twenty-five percent share of the company was given to key staff member, Ruth Palmour. http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Harlequin-Enterprises-Limited-Company-History.html

Under the direction of Richard Bonnycastle the company's fortunes started to change. In 1953 Harlequin began to publish medical romances. When the company's chief editor died the following year, Bonnycastle's wife took over his responsibilities. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,908131-2,00.html Mary Bonnycastle enjoyed reading the romance novels of British publisher Mills & Boon

Mills & Boon

Mills & Boon is a British publisher of romance novels. It was founded in 1908, and was independent until its purchase in 1971 by Harlequin Enterprises with whom the company had had a long informal partnership...

 and believed there was a market for their books in Canada and the United States. Her idea led to the most important decision in the company's history with the 1957 deal that saw Harlequin become the exclusive North American distributor for Mill & Boon romance novels. http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/entertainment/books/selling-the-sizzle-48672542.html

Community activity

Aside from his successful publishing business, Richard Bonnycastle was active in his Winnipeg community. He served as President of the Winnipeg

Winnipeg

Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...

 Chamber of Commerce

Chamber of commerce

A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...

, was appointed the first chairman of the Metropolitan Corporation of Greater Winnipeg

Metropolitan Corporation of Greater Winnipeg

In 1960, the Metropolitan Corporation of Greater Winnipeg was created as a separate layer of municipal government in the metropolitan area of Winnipeg, Manitoba...

, and named the first person to serve as Chancellor of the University of Winnipeg

University of Winnipeg

The University of Winnipeg is a public university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada that offers undergraduate faculties of art, business and economics, education, science and theology as well as graduate programs. The U of W's founding colleges were Manitoba College and Wesley College, which merged...

. On a national level, he joined the board of Ducks Unlimited Canada

Ducks Unlimited

Ducks Unlimited is an international non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of wetlands and associated upland habitats for waterfowl, other wildlife, and people. It currently has approximately 780,000 members, mostly in the United States and Canada.-Introduction:Ducks Unlimited was...

 and would serve as its President, Chairman of the Board of Directors

Board of directors

A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...

 and as Chairman of the Executive Committee. http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/people/bonnycastle_rhg.shtml

Richard Bonnycastle died in 1968 as a result of a heart attack moments after docking his floatplane

Seaplane

A seaplane is a fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water. Seaplanes that can also take off and land on airfields are a subclass called amphibian aircraft...

 at a hunting lodge on Long Island Bay in the southern section of Lake Winnipegosis

Lake Winnipegosis

Lake Winnipegosis is a large lake in central North America, in Manitoba, Canada, some 300 km northwest of Winnipeg. It is Canada's eleventh-largest lake...

. His son, Richard Jr.

Richard A. N. Bonnycastle

Richard Arthur Northwood Bonnycastle is a Canadian businessman who is the former owner and publisher of Harlequin Enterprises and an owner of Thoroughbred racehorses...

, assumed control of Harlequin Enterprises, building it into a major international publishing force.