Blackburn wrote a trilogy of books based on his war-time experiences: "The Guns of Normandy: A Soldier's Eye View, France 1944" "The Guns of Victory: A Soldier's Eye View, Belgium, Holland, and Germany, 1944-45", and "Where the Hell Are the Guns?: A Soldier's View of the Anxious Years, 1939–44". "The Guns of Normandy" received the "Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction" in 1996. He was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2001. He also received the French Legion of Honour in 2004 Légion d'honneur. Blackburn died at the Ottawa General Hospital in 2006 where he was being treated for cancer.