Join author and journalist DENNIS GRUENDING for the Saskatoon launch of his new book A COMMUNIST FOR THE RCMP: THE UNCOVERED STORY OF A SOCIAL MOVEMENT INFORMANT (BETWEEN THE LINES BOOKS).
A Communist for the RCMP tells the story of Frank Hadesbeck, a long-time informant for the RCMP Security Service. He infiltrated the Communist Party in Calgary and later in Regina over a span of thirty-five years, between 1941 and 1976. Hadesbeck provided information to the RCMP, not only about members of the Communist Party, but also about hundreds of non-communist progressives. In Saskatchewan they included people in the NDP, especially in the Waffle movement in the 1970s, and people in the labour, farm, Indigenous, human rights, and peace movements, as well as university students and professors. Anyone familiar with Saskatchewan history and politics will recognize many of those names. This book is deeply researched, combining biography with a great deal of contextual research about the Cold War.
Dennis Gruending was born and raised in rural Saskatchewan. He attended university in Saskatoon and worked as a newspaper reporter for the Prince Albert Herald, the Saskatoon StarPhoenix, and the Windsor Star. He later worked for the CBC out of Regina, including four years as co-host of CBC radio’s morning show. Dennis has written or edited eight previous books, including biographies of former Saskatchewan premier Allan Blakeney and of Emmett Hall, whose Royal Commission recommended Medicare for Canada. He served as a New Democratic Party MP in the 36th parliament in the late 1990s.
Dennis and his wife, Martha Wiebe, live in Ottawa.
