- Peter Gzowski
Infobox actor
name = Peter Gzowski
CC, LLD ("hc"), DLitt ("hc")
imagesize = 200×250px
caption = Peter Gzowski at CBC Radio
birthname =
birthdate = birth_date|1934|7|13
location =Toronto ,Ontario
deathdate = death_date_and_age|2002|1|24|1934|7|13
deathplace =Toronto ,Ontario Peter Gzowski CC (
July 13 ,1934 –January 24 ,2002 ) was a popular Canadian broadcaster,writer andreporter , 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. [Adria, Marco "Peter Gzowski: An Electric Life" (Toronto: ECW Press, 1995).] 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.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 toRidley 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 inSaskatchewan . 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 " onCBC 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 Lissaman, 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 common-law partner [http://www.uhn.ca/Media/faq/experts/corp/corp_howard.asp Gillian Howard] .
Honours
*1974, 1985, 1987
ACTRA Award s for the best host-interviewer on radio
*1981 - National Magazine Award for his profile ofWayne Gretzky
*1982 - Became host of Morningside on September 6.
*1984 - HonoraryDoctor of Letters ,University of New Brunswick
*1986 - Officer of theOrder of Canada
*1988 - HonoraryDoctor of Laws ,Trent University
*1997 - InternationalPeabody Award for broadcasting
*1998 - Companion of the Order of Canada.
*1999 - Appointed Chancellor ofTrent 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 atTrent 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 BranchFacts and Figures
*Scottish
post-rock band Mogwai use an audio recording of Gzowski's interview withIggy Pop in the song Punk Rock, the first song from their albumCome on Die Young .
* Gzowski co-wrote the song, [http://dylanchords.info/17_basement/one_single_river.htm "One Single River"] withIan Tyson . The song - advocating Canadian unity - was performed byIan and Sylvia , as well as byBob Dylan andThe Band in their 1967 "Basement session."Books
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" byMordecai Richler 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 andShelagh Rogers
*"Aleksandra Ziolkowska "Dreams and Reality," Toronto 1984,
*"Aleksandr Ziółkowska "Kanada, Kanada..." Warszawa 1986References
External links
* [http://www.cbc.ca/news/obit/gzowski_peter/ CBC's official obituary]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E01E1DD163CF934A35751C0A9649C8B63 New York Times obituary]
* [http://archives.cbc.ca/days_to_remember/classic_8160_en.asp?prov=1-111-1288 CBC Digital Archives: Days to Remember]
* [http://archives.cbc.ca/IDD-1-74-1793/people/peter_gzowski/ CBC Digital Archives – Peter Gzowski: Voice of Canada]
* [http://calgary.cbc.ca/features/gzowski.html CBC Calgary site] contains tributes to Gzowski and audio files of the last Morningside show
* [http://www.gg.ca/honours/search-recherche/honours-desc.asp?lang=e&TypeID=orc&id=3910 Order of Canada Citation]
* [http://www.expressnews.ualberta.ca/article.cfm?id=1940 'Peter Gzowski and the Canadian Conversation' by Marco Adria]
* [http://holtremembers.blogspot.com/2007/11/i-remember-peter-gzowski.html 'I Remember Peter Gzowski,' by Steve Holt]
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