Dean Beeby was born in Halifax and grew up in Edmonton, Kingston, Kitchener, Dorval, and Toronto. He earned a BA in History from York University and a MA in History from the University of Toronto. He has been a career journalist since 1981, joining the Canadian Press in 1983. In 1987/88 he covered Parliament Hill for CP and in 1988 he became their Toronto Business Editor. He has lived in Halifax since 1990 where he is the Canadian Press Bureau Chief for the Atlantic region. Dean Beeby is a recognized authority on search and rescue. As a journalist, he has covered many disasters including the 1998 crash of Swissair Flight 111, for which CP Atlantic Bureau won a National Newspaper Award. Beeby is the author of In a Crystal Land: Canadian Explorers in Antarctica and Cargo of Lies: The True Story of a Nazi Double Agent in Canada. He has been a contributor to the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, The Canadian Encyclopedia, and the journal Ontario History. In 1987, he was co-editor of Moscow Despatches: Inside Cold War Russia. Beeby is an ardent advocate and user of freedom of information laws, including the federal Access to Information Act. He has been a speaker and panelist at numerous conferences and seminars, including those organized by the Canadian Association of Journalists, the Canadian Newspaper Association and the federal Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.