Peter Gzowski
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Peter Gzowski | |
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Peter Gzowski, circa 2000 |
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Born | July 13, 1934 Toronto, Ontario |
Died | January 24, 2002 (aged 67) Toronto, Ontario |
Peter Gzowski, CC, LL.D, D.Litt (July 13, 1934 – January 24, 2002) was a popular Canadian broadcaster, writer and reporter, most famous for his work on the CBC radio show Morningside. His biographer has argued that Gzowski's contribution to Canadian media must be considered in the context of efforts by a generation of Canadian nationalists to understand and express Canada's cultural identity.[1] Gzowski wrote books, hosted television shows, and worked at a number of newspapers and at Maclean's Magazine. It is estimated that he conducted 27,000 interviews as host of Morningside. Gzowski was known for a friendly but somewhat gruff at times interviewing style. His guffaws were famous.
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[edit] Biography
A descendant of Sir Casimir Gzowski, a prominent engineer, Gzowski was born in Toronto and moved to Galt (now Cambridge) at age six. At 14, he ran away from home and found his paternal grandfather, who got him admitted to Ridley College in St. Catharines.
Gzowski attended the University of Toronto but never graduated. He was later awarded 11 honorary degrees. While in school he edited the student newspaper The Varsity. After university, Gzowski was employed at the Timmins local newspaper. In the spring of 1957, Gzowski became city editor of The Moose Jaw Times-Herald in Saskatchewan. The next year he joined the staff of Maclean's magazine. When he was 28 he became the youngest-ever managing editor of Maclean's.
He turned to radio in the early 1971, hosting the CBC's This Country in the Morning. From 1976 to 1978 he hosted the television show 90 Minutes Live on CBC Television, but returned to radio in 1982. From 1982 to 1997, he hosted Morningside, a show which brought him nationwide acclaim.
Gzowski, who for decades had been a heavy smoker, died of emphysema in Toronto at age 67. He had defended his smoking by saying that the taxes on his cigarettes would more than cover any increased health costs his smoking would cause. However, at the end, he publicly acknowledged that he was wrong, and that his recent healthcare expenses dwarfed the taxes he had paid.
Gzowski was divorced from his first wife, Jennie, a Regina native whom he met while residing in Moose Jaw and with whom he had five children (Alison, Maria, Peter, John and Mick). He was survived also by cohabitant Gillian Howard.
[edit] Honours
- 1974, 1985, 1987 ACTRA Awards for the best host-interviewer on radio
- 1981 - National Magazine Award for his profile of Wayne Gretzky
- 1982 - Became host of Morningside on September 6.
- 1984 - Honorary Doctor of Letters, University of New Brunswick
- 1986 - Officer of the Order of Canada
- 1988 - Honorary Doctor of Laws, Trent University
- 1997 - International Peabody Award for broadcasting
- 1998 - Companion of the Order of Canada.
- 1999 - Appointed Chancellor of Trent University, a position he held until his death
- 2002 - The Peter Gzowski Foundation for Literacy was funded by the federal government and named in honour of Gzowski's work in promoting literacy in Canada
- 2003 - Gzowski College at Trent University opens in honour of Peter Gzowski
- 2006 - The Peter Gzowski Festival of Stories http://www.festivalofstories.ca
- 2006 - Georgina Public Libraries renamed their Sutton Branch the Peter Gzowski Branch
[edit] Facts and Figures
- Scottish post-rock band Mogwai use an audio recording of Gzowski's interview with Iggy Pop in the song Punk Rock, the first song from their album Come on Die Young.
[edit] Books
[edit] By Peter Gzowski
- The Sacrament: a true story of survival
- A Peter Gzowski Reader
- Game of Our Lives
- Morningside Papers
- New Morningside Papers
- Fourth Morningside Papers
- Fifth Morningside Papers
- Latest Morningside Papers
- The Morningside Years
- Cabin at Singing River: Building a Home in the Wilderness with Chris Czajkowski
- Friends, Moments, Countryside
- The Private Voice, A Journal of Reflections
- Peter Gzowski's Spring Tonic
- Peter Gzowski's book about This Country in the Morning
- The Great Canadian Literary Cookbook with Kim Lafave
- Total Gretzky: The Magic, the Legend, the Numbers
- Unbroken Line
- Celebration of Peter Gzowski
- The afterword for New Canadian Library edition of The Incomparable Atuk by Mordecai Richler
[edit] About Peter Gzowski
- Peter Gzowski: An Electric Life by Marco Adria, ECW Press, Toronto, 1994.
- Remembering Peter Gzowski: A Book of Tributes by Edna Barker and Shelagh Rogers
- Aleksandra Ziolkowska "Dreams and Reality," Toronto 1984,
- Aleksandr Ziółkowska "Kanada, Kanada..." Warszawa 1986
[edit] External links
- CBC's official obituary
- CBC Digital Archives: Days to Remember
- CBC Digital Archives – Peter Gzowski: Voice of Canada
- CBC Calgary site contains tributes to Gzowski and audio files of the last Morningside show
- Order of Canada Citation
- 'Peter Gzowski and the Canadian Conversation' by Marco Adria
- 'I Remember Peter Gzowski,' by Steve Holt
Academic offices | ||
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Preceded by Mary Simon |
Chancellor of Trent University 1999–2002 |
Succeeded by Roberta Bondar |