Barber was born in Dover, England, in 1923. After serving in the Royal Air Force in World War II, he immigrated to Canada in 1952, working as an engineering consultant before becoming a theatre critic in Vancouver. His first book was Ginger Tea Makes Friends (1971), which combined cartoon drawings with recipes. Flash in the Pan (1981) was the first of his 19 full-fledged cookbooks, upon which his television show was based.[1][2]
From the 1992 to 2000, Barber hosted The Urban Peasant,[3][4] a cooking show that aired on CBC and was syndicated in more than 120 countries.[5] Barber was known as an "effusive" host who injected "saucy banter" into his program, which featured simple dishes prepared unpretentiously. Following his retirement, Barber lived on a farm in the Cowichan Valley of Vancouver Island, and married his longtime companion Christina Burridge after a 20-year courtship.[1] The couple had met when Burridge appraised Barber's collection of some 1,300 cookbooks.[2]
Barber died of natural causes at his farm in Duncan, British Columbia, on November 29, 2007, aged 84.[1] At the time of his death, he was reading a cookbook with a pot of chicken soup simmering on the stove.[5]
