Sign Offs

Red Robinson, 86, on April 1. Robinson started his broadcasting career while still in high school at CJOR Vancouver in 1954 and is credited as one of the first Canadian disc jockeys to regularly spin rock n’ roll on the West Coast. From there, he went on to on-air stints with CKWX, starting in 1957, which played Top 40 at the time, and then KGW Portland where he worked in both radio and television. After a stint in the army, he returned to Vancouver in 1961 to take on the role of program director at CFUN. He eventually returned to CJOR as Operations Manager, and then CKWX where he hosted mornings from 1973-83. Nationally syndicated oldies show “Reunion” followed from 1985-93. Robinson went on to host mornings on 650 CISL Vancouver. While he semi-retired from radio in 2007, he continued to be heard on the station on and off until 2017. Robinson’s more than six-decade career also saw him host numerous television programs, including CBC-TV bandstand-style show “Let’s Go” from 1963-66 and Trivia Challenge from 1979-80, which is said to have inspired the creation of the Trivial Pursuit board game. He also served as the host of the long-running Red’s Classic Theater on KVOS-TV Bellingham, WA until 2001. In addition to his work in broadcasting, he founded several advertising ventures, including Trend Advertising, which would later become Palmer Jarvis, and Vrlak Robinson Advertising. Robinson was elected into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, the Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame in 1997, and the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in 2000. He was appointed to the Order Of British Columbia in 2016. Read more here.

Trevor Harvey, 74, on March 4, in Nanaimo. Originally from North Vancouver, Harvey studied Mass Communication & Media at Simon Fraser University before embarking on a radio, advertising and marketing career. Among other stops over the years, he enjoyed a 12-year run at CJKC Kamloops, in addition to working with Mountain FM (CISQ-FM) Squamish, JR Country (CJJR-FM) Vancouver, 980 CKNW and Rock 101 (CFMI-FM) Vancouver, CFVR Abbotsford, SUN FM (CJSU-FM) Duncan (where he served as General Manager and General Sales Manager), and more recently The Raven (CKCC-FM) Campbell River. He also ran his own company, Peak Performance Services, for nearly two decades.

David B. Thompson, 73, on Jan. 8. Thompson started his broadcast career in 1966 at CKNX Wingham, ON, pulling cable and working in VTR and other production positions. He was hired by Doug McCormick in 1973 at CFTO, where he started as a VTR operator and worked his way up to editor, the beginning of an award-winning editing career, which in the early days included editing Canadian series like “Night Heat” and “The Littlest Hobo.” Work on “Due South,” “La Femme Nikita,” “Flashpoint”, “Bitten,” “Rogue,” “Hemlock Grove,” and “Fortunate Son” followed, among many other productions. Thompson was nominated for an Emmy in 2002 for the pilot of “24” and was a five-time Gemini Award nominee, including two nods for Due South. He was part of the team that won a DGC Award in 2009 for television mini-series “The Summit” and captured a Canadian Cinema Editors Award in 2011 for “Living in Your Car.”