Bill Anderson, 77, on Jan. 25. On a suggestion from his high school English teacher, Anderson attended Radio & TV Arts at Ryerson, which opened the door for a summer job at CHUM Radio in Toronto and later his first full-time on-air opportunity at CKBB Barrie. The year was 1965. He would go on to on-air stints at CJCB Sydney, NS; CHML Hamilton; CFOX Montreal where he used the pseudonym “Rick Shaw”; and Toronto stations Country 59 (CKYC-AM), CFRB, CKFM, CJEZ, and finally The New Classical FM (CFMX-FM, CFMZ-FM) where he hosted long-running midday show “Bill’s Classical Jukebox.” In the early 1970s, Anderson also hosted syndicated program “Big Country” which aired on more than 100 stations. He celebrated 50 years of broadcasting in 2015. In 2018, he moved production of “Bill’s Classical Jukebox” from Toronto to a new studio in Collingwood, ON. Contemplating retiring to Collingwood permanently, at the time, ZoomerMedia said it was an easy decision to build him a studio to keep him on the air. He retired from The New Classical FM last October. Among other accolades, Anderson was named Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) Broadcaster of the Year six times. He was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 1998 as a Builder and one of the CCMA’s early directors.
Fraser Loyal Kelly, 87, on Jan. 19, following a long illness. Born and raised in Toronto, Kelly started his journalism career as a police reporter on the overnight desk in Oshawa. He joined the Toronto Telegram in the early 1960s, working his way up from reporter to columnist and then politics editor. When the paper closed in 1971, he moved into television as a host on CFTO Toronto, helming political shows Fraser Kelly Reports and Hourlong. By 1981, he had joined CBC Toronto, co-hosting the evening newscast, Newshour, and public affairs show, Fraser’s Edge. He also contributed a column to the Toronto Star, among other magazine writing and authoring three books on politics. Fraser departed the CBC in 1986, at age 50, to co-found communications and crisis management firm, Corpworld Group. He consulted well into his 80s. Kelly also served as an adjunct professor in the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of Western Ontario.
