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July 16, 2019 7:10 pm  #1


John Harada

Veteran broadcaster John Harada has passed away.  Up and down the dial John had made major contributions at stations in Halifax, Ottawa, Kitchener-Waterloo, Toronto and most recently as Johnny H and Suncoast Mornings at The New SRQ on the gorgeous Suncoast.  He was one of the good guys, gone too soon.


https://www.srqfm.com/onair/johnny-h/


 

 

July 17, 2019 4:50 pm  #2


Re: John Harada

This is very sad news. I’ve known John since the early 1970's when he was in his teens, and worked as a road manager for a while with a band I was with. He set up a small "practice" radio studio in his bedroom and wanted to get into broadcasting with an incredible passion. He followed his dream.John worked so hard in the business he loved. Naturally he had to move around as many people in the industry do, gathering experience and honing his skills. In the early days he’d send me reel to reel tapes of samples of his work! Whenever he was back in Toronto we’d get together for lunch with a couple of his friends he knew from his radio days here. And we’ve kept in touch regularly.John was a great friend, and a wonderful guy. I’m so sorry we’ve lost him and my condolences to his family and to those of you who knew John.The sad irony is that a mutual friend of ours, Fred Keeler, passed away the same day (see John D’s July 15 post). I played with Fred for a few years in a band when John Harada was working with us. Many people who have been in the radio/music business for a while would know Fred, one of the truly great blues and rock guitar players in Toronto. Fred was not quite 18 when his band The Shays backed up David Clayton Thomas on the album John D noted. Fred continued in the music biz for some time, playing with a number of bands, including Jericho. We’ve been friends for nearly 50 years.It’s stunning to lose two long-term friends in two days.