Wally was very kind to me.  He was a 1st class man.  There will never by another like him.  Condolences to Glenn and his brother.

Wally was a legend.  Period.   He was a morning guy before mornings were primetime.  More important, he was a very kind man.    I feel lucky to have worked with him.   Condolences to the family.   92 is a great run.

I like this quote from Crouter's son Glenn, in the Canadian Press obit. 

"They wanted somebody who could talk. They put him in a studio ... turned the mic on and ... gave him a sharpened pencil and (said), 'Talk for five minutes about the pencil.' They had to cut him off at seven minutes because he kept on going. Then they said, 'You've got the job.'"

By the way, in RB's features on Crouter's passing, they mentioned there were only three radio stations in Toronto when he signed on in 1946. Is this true? And if so, what were they?

RB is obviously one of them, and I'm pretty sure the CBC had an AM outlet then, too.(In fact, CBL-FM went on the air in 1946 with a simulcast of its AM counterpart.) I think that third one may have been CKEY, but I'm not sure. Can anyone here confirm that?

"Stop, look and listen before you cross the street.
Use your eyes and use your ears before you use your feet."

Wally gave me that specific advice every weekday morning back before I became a card-carrying CHUM Bug.  Condolences to Glenn who I also knew and to the rest of the family.  To Wally's friends and fans...you have my sympathy.  He sure had loads of great years...and I'm not talking work.

[agree 1000% with ONEIL...except it would have been less than 8 years.]

I should point out that the annotation of CJBC being a French language was mine, and was incorrect.  At the time, CJBC was indeed an English language station as Dulmage  points out here:

http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/index3.html?url=http%3A//www.broadcasting-history.ca/listings_and_histories/radio/listings.php%3Fpt%3D132%26r%3D343

Clicking on "History" in the section beside CJBC will display the whole page.
 

Last edited by Peter the K (March 29, 2016 10:03 am)

Prod Guy wrote:

Exactly.

This showed how Bell feels about heritage.

Garrison, 61, found out his 40-year career at AM 1290 was over after he signed off at 10 a.m. Monday.

“As soon as I got off the air, I was called downstairs” for a meeting with management, he said.

“I was escorted out the door.”

http://www.lfpress.com/2015/11/23/london-radio-host-steve-garrison-loses-job-at-am-1290-as-part-of-bell-media-layoffs

I hope somebody gave him Lior Samfiru's number.
 

Bell can afford the big guns.  They've got Howard Levitt.

But as either Levitt or Samfiru will tell you, your employer can dismiss you for any reason (other than a human rights or pregnancy issue) they want as long as you get sufficient notice.  (under which severance qualifies)  

Actually, on Levitt's show last weekend, they dealt with the issue of letting go of older employees who make more to let younger folks take over at a fraction of the wages.  We've never seen anything like that in radio, have we?  It was actually a very interesting discussion.

 

Peter the K wrote:

Bell can afford the big guns.  They've got Howard Levitt.

But as either Levitt or Samfiru will tell you, your employer can dismiss you for any reason (other than a human rights or pregnancy issue) they want as long as you get sufficient notice.  (under which severance qualifies)  

Actually, on Levitt's show last weekend, they dealt with the issue of letting go of older employees who make more to let younger folks take over at a fraction of the wages.  We've never seen anything like that in radio, have we?  It was actually a very interesting discussion.

 

In a roundabout way, I was referring to severance. After 39 years, and He was walked out, I would think He's owed 2 years severance.(According to Lior)