An an expert in the field of addictions, Strachan, as a recovered alcoholic for 45 years, devoted his life to the study of the disease and wrote Alcoholism: Treatable Disease, An Honorable Approach (Orca, 1990). A resident of Sidney, he received the Alberta Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Commission's first Distinguished Service Award in 1983 and had a library named in his honour. In 1985 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada.

[BCBW 2004]