Bio

Gerry Bowler grew up in Saskatoon and earned his first two academic degrees from the University of Saskatchewan. He received his Ph.D. in History from King’s College London with a dissertation on Protestant political theory of the Tudor period. While continuing to teach Medieval and Early-Modern European history at the university level, he switched his area of research to the intersection of religion and popular culture, publishing works on The Simpsons, the relationship between Aristotle and professional wrestling, Wayne Gretzky, and Bloody Mary, but eventually focussing his main efforts on the history of Christmas.

 Gerry is the author of Europe in the Sixteenth Century, The World Encyclopedia of Christmas, God and The Simpsons: The Spirituality of Springfield, Santa Claus: A Biography, Christmas in the CrosshairsThe Kindly Curmudgeon, True Obedience: Tudor Protestants and Resistance to Tyranny, Christian Week: The Print Years,  A Curmudgeon’s Commonplace Book, and The Curmudgeon’s Bathroom Reader, as well as countless newspaper and magazine articles, encyclopedia entries, op-eds and academic papers. He also edited Music from Within: A Biography of Sophie Eckhardt-Gramatté and The World’s Greatest Christmas Stories. His books have been translated into Chinese, Japanese, Serbo-Croatian, Italian, Romanian, Spanish and Portuguese.

In his idle moments, Bowler is a Senior Fellow at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, a western-Canadian think tank, where his research shakes a fist at modern society and tells it to get off his lawn.

11 thoughts on “Bio

  1. Erin Zimmerman says:

    Hello Mr. Bowler,

    I am directing a documentary about the history of Christmas and the origins of various Christmas traditions, and I have been going through two of your books and some online interviews. I would love to interview you as part of this documentary, with questions on the history of Christmas as a whole, from the BC years to the present day, with special focus on the real story of St. Nicholas and his evolution into Santa Claus. I really like your perspective, and you have an interesting delivery that will keep this documentary moving.

    The documentary will be released in the US and Canada on DVD, as well as online streaming worldwide next Christmas season. If you’re willing, I would love to send a producer and camera crew to Winnipeg as soon as we can get a trip booked, so that I can move forward on the final script.

    Please let me know if this is something you will consider. It should only take about an hour of your time.

    Thank you and best regards,
    Erin Zimmerman

    PS I love the font on this website.

  2. Neal Roys says:

    Dr. Bowler,
    Julie Roys would like to interview you for her show on Salem Raido, The Roys Report. Please email me to schedule an interview:
    neal@julieroys.com

  3. […] family togetherness, social solidarity, reunion and communal merrymaking,” says Gerry Bowler , author of The World Encyclopedia of […]

  4. Brent Rooney says:

    Hello Gerry Bowler,
    Thank you for your August article in Epoch Times about
    abortion. Once I have your email address I’ll send to you
    citations of 8 published studies, all reporting that women
    with induced abortion history have raised risk of having
    babies later diagnosed with AUTISM.

    Cheers: Brent Rooney
    email fullterm40@gmail.com

    • gerryadmin says:

      Thanks for your kind words Brent. No need to send me those articles; I’m aware of the literature on medical consequences of induced abortions.

  5. […] Gerry Bowler is a historian specializing in the intersection of popular culture and Christianity. He is the author of The World Encyclopedia and Christmas in the Crosshairs. […]

  6. Grit McCreath says:

    Hello Gerry! A flash from the past…I attended Walter Murray Collegiate in Saskatoon with you and would love to get in touch. I have done a considerable amount of ‘Covid cleaning’ and have come across some photos I would like to send you. I spoke with you a few years ago and sadly I lost your contact information… Would you be able to resend it please? Cheers, Margrit Hildebrandt

  7. Dale Walker says:

    Dr. Gerry Bowler! Dale Walker here to disrupt your thoughts and say hello. I was listening to this podcast and thought I would send you a copy of the link as I certainly thought of you as Inlistened to it earlier. https://youtu.be/rNXLGBnzqOw

    Anyway, enjoy the listen. Hoping things are well with you and yours. Me and the three kids (Serena, Breandàn and Garrett (the ferret) are still living together in La Salle; forming a loose conglomeration of adult living organisms under one roof. It is quirky sometimes but we make it work! Take care my esteemed professor.
    Dale
    Velox Versutus Vigilans

  8. gerryadmin says:

    Hey Dale! Glad to hear from you. I was thinking of you recently when I looked at our crop of peppers and wondered whether you were still growing the spicy little devils.

    As to the Christmas video, please take a memory-wipe pill and expunge its contents from your brain. Dear Father Chris knows not whereof he speaks.

    My email address these days is gerrybowler@mac.com. Keep in touch and prosper!

    Gerry

  9. John Janzen says:

    Really enjoyed your podcast episode with David Leis. Will be looking to buy the book (or the audiobook if there is one). Glad to know what (and that) you are thinking, writing, and speaking. JJ

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