Fil Fraser, 85, on Dec. 3. Fraser was one of Canada’s first black broadcasters, landing a job at the age of 19 at Foster Hewitt’s CKFH Toronto in 1951. After taking a turn doing play-by-play for the Barrie Flyers and working in the news departments at CKVL Verdun and CFCF Montreal, he went on to found the Regina Weekly Mirror, known for chronicling Tommy Douglas’ fight to institute medicare. In 1965, Fraser moved to Edmonton and became senior producer at MEETA (Metropolitan Edmonton Educational Television Association). He became known for his likeable interview style on his CJCA Talk Back show, later moving to ITV television with The Fil Fraser Show, as well as a stint as co-anchor for CBC Edmonton’s supper hour news. In the 1970s, he formed his own production company focused on western stories. Later accomplishments included founding the Alberta Motion Picture Industries Association, leading the Alberta Human Rights Commision from 1989 to 1992, and helming Vision TV as its CEO. He was inducted as a Member of the Order of Canada in 1991, among his many accolades.
Grant Munro, 94, on Dec. 9. In Montreal. A filmmaking and animation pioneer, Munro attended several art schools in his hometown of Winnipeg, before earning a diploma at the Ontario College of Art where his teacher Franklin Carmichael, one of the Group of Seven painters, helped him get a job at the National Film Board (NFB). Munro was involved in the 1952 Oscar-award-winning anti-war film “Neighbours,” which used live-action shot in single frames. Munro left NFB in the late 1950s to pursue an animation career in England. He returned to the film board in 1961 after working with George Dunning, the future director of “Yellow Submarine.” Munro went on to work on two other Oscar-nominated films “My Financial Career,” a funny take on the Stephen Leacock short story, and “Christmas Cracker,” which he also starred in. Munro retired from the NFB in 1988 and was made an officer of the Order of Canada in 2008.
Kathy Conway, 67, on Dec. 1 as the result of a fall in her home. Conway worked at Unitel Communications, Cantel, Rogers, Bell Mobility, PwC and McCarthy Tetrault over the years. Active with Canadian Women in Communications and the organization’s career advancement programs, she created and launched the CWC Mentorship program. She was also involved in the development of the Career Clinic workbook and national workshops that helped women across the country find the right roles and advance.
Kenny Harris, 90, on Dec. 10 in Brandon, Suffolk. Known as “Mr. Brushes” for his jazz drumming style, the Royal Air Force veteran played with groups including the British Jazz Trio and the Ralph Sharon Sextet, in addition to working as a session player for RCA, Capital and Atlantic Records. Also a recording engineer and producer, he ran the Kneptune record label and publishing company. He started getting involved in radio production in the early 1960s, working with ZBM Bermuda, and in radio in Calgary, before becoming production director at CKNW Vancouver from 1977 through the early 1980s. Harris went on to write a biography of American jazz drummer Don Lamond and in 1998 penned Geraldo’s Navy, an account of playing on the Cunard and Canadian Pacific shipping lines under the direction of Gerald “Geraldo” Bright. His life was the subject of a Bermuda Government Treasures television program in 2009.
