Ori Siegel on March 17. Siegel worked as an operator and technician at CKKW-AM Kitchener, CFCA-FM Toronto, CHFI AM and FM Toronto, and CFTO-TV, before joining the CBC in 1982. Over the next 36 years, he held roles in the Network Control Centre, Master Control, VTR operations, and served as Network Traffic Coordinator. He retired from the CBC in 2018. In retirement, he shared his passion for HAM radio at the amateur radio station at Ontario Science Centre, in addition to volunteering at the Toronto Rail Museum. He was also involved with the Scarborough Music Theatre, serving as musical director, among other roles, on numerous theatre productions over the years
Larry Gordon, 71, on March 17 after a battle with glioblastoma. After graduating from the Radio & Television Arts program at Conestoga College in 1972, Gordon started his radio career in Huntsville with stops in Kitchener and Stratford, before moving to Sarnia in 1974 to join the CHOK newsroom where he would work for the next 38 years. He took on the role of news director in 1978. He retired in April 2013 with Sarnia Police Chief Phil Nelson presenting Gordon with a Community Service Medal. He went on to serve two terms on the Village of Point Edward Council.
Claude Fournier, 91, on March 16. Fournier worked as a cameraman at Radio-Canada before joining the National Film Board (NFB) in 1957 as a writer and director. He eventually left to work with documentary filmmakers Richard Leacock and D.A. Pennebaker in New York, returning to Montreal in 1963 to set up his own prodco, Rose Films. Among his better known films are 1970’s Two Women in Gold (Deux femmes en or) and The Tin Flute (1983), based on the Gabrielle Roy novel. Fournier also co-wrote the script for A Special Day (1977), a Canada-Italy co-production starring Sophia Loren that earned an Oscar nomination. 1988 television mini-series “Les Tisserands du pouvoir” won Fournier a Gemeaux Award for Best Direction, Television Drama and a Genie Award for Best Screenplay. More recently, Fournier was associated with Éléphant: Mémoire du Cinéma Québécois, a project to digitize Québec films. His twin brother is author, producer and screenwriter Guy Fournier, who served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of CBC from 2005-06.
Johnnie Walters, 89, on Feb. 26. Born in Beamsville, ON, Walters started working at radio stations around southwestern Ontario at age 17. It was in London that he met Jackie Barnes, the station’s music librarian, whom he married in 1958. The couple moved around as Walters hosted radio and television in various markets, landing in Cleveland from 1959-67, where Johnnie was a host at progressive rock station, WHK. Eventually, the Walters decided to return home to Ontario where Johnnie joined CKCO-TV. Over the next two decades, he hosted shows including “Horoscope Dollars” (1974-76); “The Johnnie Walters Show” (1976-81); “Tempo Ontario” (1981-82); “Trivia Company” (1983-87) and “Morning Magazine” (1987-94). Walters retired from CKCO in 1994 at age 61. He published his memoir “A Very Capable Life” in 2010, which went on to win the Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction.
