The late George Garrett is remembered by Joseph Planta with clips from interviews they did over the years.
Text of the introduction by Joseph Planta:
I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.
George Garrett died on Monday night. He was eighty-nine years old. Eighty-nine years is a long time, but in George’s case, I know so many people, family and friends alike, George himself, would have wanted just a little while longer. It’s a testament to a life well lived that eighty-nine years was not nearly enough.
He filled those eighty-nine years with a lot. His career in reporting at CKNW and at BCTV is legendary. Much has already been said over the last day or so in the media, and social media, of his career that yielded so many awards and accolades. Each one delighted and perhaps stunned the product of middle-of-nowhere, Saskatchewan, who made his way west, and made a life and career that remain the envy of so many. It is, one should note a career that might not be possible today.
It was cancer that hastened George’s life. It’s been a couple of years now since he was first diagnosed. He faced it, as he did his life and career, with dignity and enthusiasm. And as he taught us over the years how to live, in his own inimitable way, he taught us how to contend with the spectre of death. Again, with dignity, and he was gallant.
Our mutual friend George Orr often describes Garrett as a gentleman. So many people have commented on his kindness as a reporter. His integrity is certainly oft-mentioned. But what made George Garrett so likeable and so good was because he was a gentleman, and a gentle man. You saw that in the compassionate lens with which he saw life and the problems of our society, in how he covered the good and the bad. And you certainly saw it in his family life, whether it’s his marriage to Joan, and the pride he took in his daughters Linda and Laurie, their families, and all those grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He’d beam when he talked about all the Garretts, Fields, and Watts. I think it’s in Proverbs that mentions something, and I’ll paraphrase here, a faithful man being abound in blessings. And George was faithful, and blessed. And he always remembered his son Ken. I still weep for George when I think of him imagining what sort of man he’d have turned out to be had he lived.
I first met George Garrett about ten years ago. But it was as though I knew George Garrett my whole life, having grown up listening to CKNW. It was always time to perk one’s ears up if at the top of the hour, he was leading the newscast with something breaking, something exclusive, or both. It was through George Orr, that I first met Garrett. Orr suggested I interview George on my podcast. It is because of both of the Georges generosity, that I am proud to have called each of them friend.
When it was, we three, other than lunch, great conversation was always served up. We’d alternately solve the world’s problems, catch up on life, and remember what was necessary about the past. I remember fondly the funny stories, and the lessons I learned, not just in diligence and hard work, but in kindness and decency. We all learned that. George Garrett’s reverence for the value of family, faith and friendship; his infinite curiosity made him the peerless reporter he’s been celebrated for throughout his career, and long after. It’s that same curiosity that’s made him look with wonder at the world as it’s evolved over his nearly ninety years.
I was asked over the last day or so what I would miss most about George. Those are myriad and unimportant, because what I’ll miss for George is all the things he’ll miss. Just after Christmas, he mentioned that he’s expecting a third great-grandchild in the summer. He was particularly happy that Linda would be a grandmother. Despite the bleakness of the diagnosis from his doctors, I asked if he wanted to stick around for that. Without missing a beat, he said, “You bet.” So, I’ll miss that for him. I know he’ll have wanted to know how the Surrey Police situation would turn out, and of course, the rest of this Canucks season.
It was soon after his first interview with me on the show, that he mentioned that he wanted to write his memoirs. I said it was a fantastic idea, and though I can’t take credit for it coming into being, I was fortunate to read an early draft and honoured that he asked for suggestions. The book became a bestseller, and George delighted in book signings and appearances, with all the proceeds from sales benefiting the Volunteer Cancer Drivers Society, an organisation he helped found and was a staunch spokesperson for, for many years. It’s one of the many charitable endeavours he supported. He always looked for a way to better the community, and that too involved getting involved politically. His endorsement, I know meant a lot to the candidates and issues he supported. It’s almost as if, after a lifetime of reporting, fairly and honestly, he was allowed to be a partisan. And it wasn’t just loyalty that guided his views, it was a careful study of the issues.
There is so much more to say about the life of George Garrett. I’ll commend to those who haven’t yet read his memoir, his book Intrepid Reporter, which gives one a sense of the man and the many stories that filled his eighty-nine years. I’ll also suggest you listen to Eric Chapman’s podcast Eric’s Living Room, which has at least one episode featuring George and the story of him infiltrating the towing business for a story. It is what I believe was George’s last interview, and Eric did a great job adding colour to George’s reminiscences.
Here now are some clips from conversations I had with George on this podcast. He appeared on this show six times. He often remarked, when asking as to who the latest guest on the show was, that he still had several more appearances until he reached the number of my most frequent guest, Rafe Mair.
You’ll hear Garrett talking about the heights of his professional career, as well as the personal. It’s a great way to remember George. I’ll remember him often, and I’ll miss him. But the best tribute is to be just a little bit like him, and just perhaps, life will be a little bit better for you, and those around you.
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