Very sad to hear this. One of the true good guys and one of the most talented. Dazzlin' Don really did earn his nickname. 

Dale Patterson's Rockradioscrapbook.com has several entries from Daynard, including one of his well remembered "Lookin' Back' segments from CKFM in 1986.

Here's CHFI's tribute (along with Erin Davis) to Daynard. Nice to see they acknowledged him. 

Don Daynard Tribute

Sad news.  I worked with Don at CKFM and CFRB (after his CKFH gig).  I frequently op’d for him, or produced spots with him.  I also recall he transitioned from swing to mornings on CKFM…but I digress.  We had a lot of laughs.  Funniest thing I remember was he was subbing for Bill Deagan.  Degan would say, every bloody day, at 5:45 pm, in his transition to Gordon Sinclair,…”we have to skeedaddle out of here, to make room for Gordon Sinclair, the news and his comment, and to all you mothers in the kitchen, love-ya…(degan then kissed his hand loudly at the microphone….for effect)  we’ll be right back after that…to help you do the dishes…..on ……(pause) C…F…R…B 1010. “.  (Kinda like Pig Vomit’s reading of the call letters W….N…B….C…)

Well subbing for Deagan,  Don couldn’t help himself,…he did the sign of…a bit differently….and I recall his pronounciation of the words… “you mutha’s in the kitchen”.   Either Deagan was listening, or word got back to him…and I recall Deagan confronting Don, a few days later…what stuck in my mind, more than 50 years later was Deagan saying “you will never talk to my mothers again…like that”.   I don’t know how Don or I kept a straight face.  

We also worked a lot, especially overnights with Michael McManus…the ex priest - who had become a broadcaster and newscaster.  Don always called Michael “the Padre”.  

Don was always a pleasure to work with, although he was nearly 2 decades older than me….I always felt he treated me as an “equal”.  R.I.P. Don.

Guess the Woke Police would be all over Deagan for that sign/off today…

Nice to see a tribute featured in at least one Toronto newspaper, when most pay almost no attention to radio in this town. From the Toronto Sun:

Legendary Toronto radio host Don Daynard dead at 88 

Also:
98.1 CHFI presents a tribute to legendary – Don Daynard.
 

A few more memories, this one from 1968 when he was at CKFH. (Although I'm not entirely sure this was completely complimentary!) I had no idea Daynard once worked in L.A. as what the author calls a "costume lackey." And check out the pic of a very young newbie named John Donabie!) 



Here's Don pictured presenting an award to a Polish athlete at MLG in 1969:

Double whammy at our house. We both worked with Don; Val at CKFM, me at CHFI.
It feels like the end of an era, even though Daz has been off the air for a while.
Mind you, many of us have been getting older. In my case, I'm getting parking tickets
(true dat) and we haven't been in the downtown in 20 years.

I kinda lucked out, in the meantime. A few of us managed to have some long lunches
with Don, who joined us in Cambridge and at The Arms in St. George. Good stories,
lots chuckles. Phil Meighan, Bob Farrow, yours truly from the Smooth Jazz WAVE, and
whoever else was up for it. It's hard to be sad...it's the memories that make
the difference.

Ugh, at 5:58 Global News misspelt and Tracy Tong mispronounced Daynard's name.

Why is John D allowed on this site?

Hope so!

RadioActive wrote:

I'm learning more and more about Daynard with each obit. Did you know he once worked for TVO, was in Porkys (his voice can be heard at the 1:43 mark in the clip below) and even appeared on The Littlest Hobo? Quite an amazing man, in addition to his on-air work.

He did commercials too!



 

I am very sad to hear about Don's passing. I was a fan of Don since his days at CKFH. I still remember the day he introduced me to the music of Tom Rush when he played Drivin' Wheel one afternoon. Who other than Don played Tom Rush on AM radio! I will forever be grateful. In 1982 I had the good fortune of being a DJ for a Day on his Lookin' Back program on CKFM.  Six years later Don was very helpful in directing me to my first job in radio. Not only was he one of the greats to grace the airwaves, but he was a real swell guy too!

You are the only John D I know of and don't recall another one. If there had been one registered, it would have shown up when you joined as a name that was already "taken." I'm not sure who this other JD is but if he's a troublemaker as the message seems to imply, it's just as well he's not here!

I think for the most part we have a real good group assembled here and while we often disagree on things, it's pretty civil. Many credit me with that, but if the truth were told, it's all of you who make that happen! 

And Mr. Donabie will be welcome here as long as he wants to be a member! We can all learn a lot from a guy with that much experience in Toronto radio. I, for one, am pleased he's part of this.

  Sorry to hear about Don.  Most of the remembrances mentioned are in Toronto.   In my case Don and I worked together at CJET radio in Smiths Falls in the early sixties. If memory serves me it was his second broadcasting job in Ontario after his return from California.  Many fond memories were made during that period and we continued on our separate ways....Don stayed in broadcasting and I moved on to another career and our paths crossed a few times.  For those of us in my age range, the 80s, almost every week another name is added to the list of those who have departed.  So long old friend and thanks for the memories.

Found this on YouTube:
Don Daynard in his CKFM days: (long before Mix FM...ignore the "mix fm" pic that goes with it, lol)