[2] In time, he became a pioneering poet who sought to record the Rockies through a novel combination of style, language and history [2] but he had many other roles as well.
[3] Whyte was a conservationist serving in executive capacities with the Bow Valley Naturalists and National and Provincial Parks Association of Canada (now known as CPAWS).
[4] He was an author and his books, and contributions to anthologies, magazines and other media, sought to secure a unique cultural origin and identity for western Canada.
[5] Counted among them must be his many non-fiction books on aspects, places or artists such as Peter and Catharine Whyte, in the Rocky Mountains, often co-authored.
[10] The book, Jon Whyte: Mind Over Mountains, published in 2000, traces his poetic career from his early years as part of Edmonton's 1960s literary community, through his 1981 poem "Homage: Henry Kelsey" with its illustrations by Dennis Burton, to "The Fells of Brightness" (1983).
Correspondence with Jon Whyte is also found in Library and Archives Canada under Joan Murray fonds, R4917-8-6-E (Vol.