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Former Long Time CBC Radio Cross Country Checkup Host Dies
Rex Murphy not only hosted the national CBC show for 21 years, he was also a prolific columnist for newspapers like the National Post. The Rhodes scholar's last piece for the paper was published just two days ago. He had been battling cancer for some time, when the illness finally claimed him.
"For 21 years, Murphy, with his distinctive Newfoundland accent, hosted Cross Country Checkup on CBC Radio, a nationwide call-in show and appeared on various other CBC programs. He was, as a Ryerson Review of Journalism writer noted in 1996, the “antithesis of … other high-profile on-air personalities, with their CBC smiles and central Canadian dialects.”
Yet, after he left CBC in 2015, the public broadcaster became a favoured recipient of Murphy’s ire, often dispatched from the Comment pages of the Post. But CBC was his home repeatedly over the decades."
He was 77.
Rex Murphy, the sharp-witted intellectual who loved Canada, dies at 77
- paterson1
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Re: Former Long Time CBC Radio Cross Country Checkup Host Dies
Sad news. Rex Murphy was a one of a kind journalist and definately not a team player. He was a wordsmith, funny, smart, all wrapped up with glorious Newfoundland charm...Sleep well Mr. Murphy..
- newsguy1
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Re: Former Long Time CBC Radio Cross Country Checkup Host Dies
Gosh, very sorry to hear this.
I was a fan of Rex and Cross Country Checkup, but was not on board for his latter conversion as a conservative.
But that being said he was a really skilled and credible political commentator, as well as being a rather quirky and somewhat eccentric personality.
RIP.
- BowmanvilleBob
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Re: Former Long Time CBC Radio Cross Country Checkup Host Dies
Back in the 1960s, Rex was a student activist in Newfoundland who fought and won the right for free higher education for young people. Yet the last chapter of his life was spent trying to deny a new generation of Canadians the same tools that helped him succeed. While I take no joy in his passing, I will not miss him.
- Chrisphen
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Re: Former Long Time CBC Radio Cross Country Checkup Host Dies
Indeed. His is a cautionary tale.
- Saul
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Re: Former Long Time CBC Radio Cross Country Checkup Host Dies
Chrisphen wrote:
Indeed. His is a cautionary tale.
I've seen people switch batting positions in both directions, left to right, right to left. In some cases moderately, in other cases dramatically. A good media example of right to left, at least in some respects, is Michael Coren. Political scientists would probably categorize me as fairly solidly left in terms of overall values and principles, but I don't address every challenge by giving way to the holy spirit of Marx. And, I've changed my own mind on some topics over the years - or to be more precise fine-tuned my thinking. The inability to change one's mind is not a good thing. It's also occurred to me that ideologues create and try to enforce shopping lists of values. So that if you question a certain precept even minimally you somehow lose your left wing or right wing credibility. (It's often really just a struggle for power). Sometimes, in life, the facts get in the way of a good story - the story you've always held to be true. But if nuances can be understood and faced as they arise or are noticed, then actual progress might be made. As far as Rex Murphy is concerned, my honest reaction is big deal. We all have the right and sometimes the obligation to call things as we see them.
- paterson1
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Re: Former Long Time CBC Radio Cross Country Checkup Host Dies
Excellent points Saul. As we grow older most people do modify their positions on certain thoughts and ideas. To me Rex Murphy did always talk about life and politics as he saw them. On CBC he was often critical of both Conservative and Liberals,.but on a case by case basis.
He spoke in glowing terms about Pierre Elliot Trudeau as a man and prime minister, but in his last opinion piece in the National Post on Saturday, he didn't have much good to say about our current PM.
Peter Mansbridge with some thoughts on his friend...
- BowmanvilleBob
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Re: Former Long Time CBC Radio Cross Country Checkup Host Dies
Sorry gents...I have to disagree.
Rex Murphy was hardly the benign old duffer with slightly outdated views but who still "called 'em as he saw 'em." He was a serious climate change denier and a heavy duty apologist for the oil and gas industry. He served as a pseudo-intellectual voice to put a gloss on the views of people like Jordan Peterson and the convoy crowd. Mansbridge's carefully worded comments aside ("I didn't always agree with him, but he brought Chinese food for the crew") you'll find few outside the National Post crowd with any fond memories of what he eventually became.
As I've said, I take no pleasure in his departure, but I won't miss him.
Last edited by BowmanvilleBob (May 10, 2024 9:22 pm)