Anyone here remember Gwyn "Jocko" Thomas, the one time Toronto Star crime reporter?? He died in 2010 but he had a long and distinguished career as a crime reporter. I met him once. Many years ago  I was employed at a Toronto radio station and my first, one and only time was assigned to "Toronto police headquarrrrttters" as Jocko used to sign off his reports at about 6 a.m. Our station, like two or three others had their own little cubby hole at police H.Q..(Jarvis Street??)  and Jocko Thomas was beside me. He was doing reports for CFRB I believe. He was very good with me, a young guy who had never been on this particular beat before.

It was a quiet morning, very little of note on the crime blotter that morning. But I had caught wind of a story about a young lady who had vanished for a while and then told police she had been tied up and kidnapped. No one else had the story except me. So I made the calls I needed to make to the appropriate division and talked to an officer who was directly involved and got the scoop.  I filed on the phone back to my station. Now everyone in the press room at the police station can hear me, including Jocko Thomas. While he and the other reporters had a blank page in their typewriters, I had the lead story, which they quickly latched onto. I had scooped Jocko Thomas.  

Last edited by unclefester (January 18, 2016 7:01 pm)