Mr. Giles came to the Peace country in the early 1930’s as an agent for Lister Lighting Systems when it was necessary for villages and large farms to generate their own electricity.
He soon moved to the new Dawson Creek, impressed by the possibilities of the Peace River Block after some selling trips had taken him into all the accessible districts, during which he drove the first car to Hudson’s Hope. During those trips he met all of the outstanding agriculturists and businessmen. Throughout his life he and his wife Marjorie maintained an active interest in the Farmers’ and Women’s Institutes and he was frequently called upon for reports.
His writing was the more valuable for being unspectacular and factual, based on personal knowledge and participation. Editorials were always slanted in an optimistic way but they were nevertheless realistic concerning problems. News reports were factual as they were in the old tradition, and never, never tended towards the sensational. Because of his scrupulous adherence to the old rule that a newspaperman should not express what he felt but only what he saw Harry Giles was seldom personally credited for his contribution to the growth of the Peace River Country.