Ordinary Genius: A Life of Arnold Platt

Occasionally, and if we are very fortunate, we meet someone who inspires us. Arnold Platt was such a person—he influenced and inspired many people whose lives he touched. His accomplishments suggest his genius, but as he chose the path of influence rather than power, his contributions were seldom credited publicly. How he came to have that influence and how he used it is a good story. But his story is also an illustration of agriculture’s role in shaping Canada’s political, economic, and social life in the twentieth century.