David Marsden, 85, on Sept. 25. Born in Toronto and raised in Stratford, Marsden’s interest in music and radio started early, with his first foray into radio at CFCO Chatham, which was followed by stints at CHLO St. Thomas, and then CKEY-AM Toronto under the on-air handle of “Dave Mickie.” He went on to appear on CBC-TV’s Music Hop and CHCH-TV’s Mickie A Go Go. In the late 1960s, he moved to Montreal’s CKGM-AM, where he first used the name David Marsden. From there, he made the move to CHOM-FM before returning to Toronto to work at CHUM-FM. He arrived at Brampton’s CFNY-FM in 1977 and was named Program Director two years later. After wrapping up his run at the groundbreaking station in 1988, Marsden brought “The Spirit of Radio” to the West Coast and Vancouver’s Coast 1040 (CKST-AM) in the early 1990s, before returning to Toronto to launch online radio hub, Iceberg Media. His final venture was online radio station, NYthespirit.com. Read more here.
Al Roos, 75, on Sept. 18 after a short battle with cancer. Roos started working with broadcast equipment manufacturer, McCurdy Radio, in 1972, installing stereo production consoles across North America, including NBC, ABC, CBS and CBC affiliates. He was doing an install at CKWS-FM and CFMK-FM Kingston in 1980 when he was offered a job at CKWS Radio and TV. He went on to work with Global Kingston for 39 years, retiring from Corus Entertainment in 2022. His last project at Corus Kingston was rebuilding the two FM radio stations to enable the transition to all Wheatstone digital audio over IP during the pandemic. Roos was recognized with the 2022 Canadian Radio Award for Best Engineer (Medium Market).
Anne Claire Poirier, 94, on Sept. 27. The National Film Board’s first francophone woman director and producer, Poirier made some of the most powerful films in Quebec cinema from 1960 to 1997. She obtained a law degree and studied at the Conservatoire d’art dramatique, before working for Radio-Canada and successively establishing herself as an actor, host and theatre critic. She joined NFB in 1960, starting out in Versions Services, before moving into editing and then directing in 1963 with documentary, 30 Minutes, Mister Plummer, on actor Christopher Plummer. In 1996, she made Tu as crié LET ME GO, an unflinching examination of the addiction and eventual murder of her own daughter, which won numerous awards. Poirier was appointed Chevalière de l’Ordre national du Québec, going on to become an Officière in 2008. In 1988, she received the Prix Albert-Tessier, the Quebec government’s highest distinction in cinema. She was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2003.
