Don Brinton, 94, on Feb. 1. Originally hailing from Vegreville, AB, Brinton started his broadcasting career in 1950 at community radio station CFYK Yellowknife doing overnights and weekends, while holding down a day job studying permafrost. Just four years later, he’d gain the distinction of being the first voice heard on Edmonton’s first television station, CFRN. Following 13 years with CFRN TV and Radio, he became Vice-President and Manager of CFQC-TV Saskatoon. He joined CanWest Broadcasting in 1975, playing a key role in the launch of CKND-TV Winnipeg where he became President and Chief Executive Officer in 1979. It was during those years, he also helped produce several Canadian films, including the Manitoba-set, Great Depression drama “Tramp at the Door.” In 1984, he took on the added responsibility of Sask West Television. Brinton became a consultant for CanWest Global in retirement. He also served as Chairman of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) in 1983-84, and was a Past President of the Broadcasters Association of Manitoba and Western Association of Broadcasters (WAB). Brinton was inducted into the CAB Broadcast Hall of Fame in 1994. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 2016.
Ralph Mellanby, 87, on Jan. 29. The son of Edgar Mellanby, an editor for The Windsor Star, Mellanby earned a Communications degree before finding his first broadcasting job at CKLW-TV Windsor as a prop assistant, and later cameraman and floor manager. From there, he went to WXYZ-TV Detroit in 1959 where he worked as a cameraman, followed by a move to Chicago to work as a sports producer at WGN-TV. He returned to Canada in 1961 and CFCF-TV Montreal, where he produced NHL game broadcasts. He joined Hockey Night in Canada (HNIC) in 1966 and went on to serve as Executive Producer for 19 years, responsible for hiring play-by-play talent like Bob Cole, Jim Robson, Don Cherry, Dave Hodge, and Ron MacLean, among others, in addition to introducing slow motion replay and on-screen graphics, among other technical viewer enhancements. Mellanby also produced the Peter Puck cartoon for NBC in the 1970s as well as the long-running Coach’s Corner. Mellanby was involved in numerous Olympic broadcasts from 1976 to 1996, for which he was recognized with five Emmy Awards, including one for directing coverage of the historic “Miracle on Ice” U. S. hockey victory in Lake Placid in 1980. In 1988, he led the Host Broadcast operation at the Calgary Winter Games. Mellanby was the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from Sports Media Canada in 1999. He was inducted into the Windsor/Essex County Sports Hall of Fame as a builder in 2004.
