SIGN-OFFS:

Keith Maskell, Jan. 18, after an unexpected illness. Hailing from Saskatchewan, Keith was a university lecturer in French language and literature before joining CBC Edmonton, primarily as a reporter for French-language television. Maskell worked with the public broadcaster from 1992 to 1999, before becoming a staff rep for the Canadian Media Guild. He was with the CMG for more than 16 years, remembered as a dedicated and supportive voice for those working in the Canadian media sector.

Ritchie Yorke, 73, Feb. 6, of complications from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The colourful Australian music journalist was the chief music writer for the Sunday Mail for two decades, but also well-known in Canada as a former Canadian editor of Rolling Stone and Billboard and a contributor to the Globe & Mail. Yorke lived in Canada from the late 1960s through the mid-1980s, becoming a vocal advocate for Canadian music. He was one of the proponents involved in the introduction of Canadian Content regulations in 1971 and also helped organize the ambitious Maple Music Junket in June 1972, that saw 130 international journalists flown to Canada to spend a week listening to and writing about the top Canadian acts of the day. He made many friends along the way, including John Lennon. His book Christ You Know It Ain’t Easy: John and Yoko’s Battle For Peace came out last year with Yoko Ono writing the foreword. Yorke also wrote Led Zeppelin: The Definitive Biography, with Robert Plant calling him “one of us.”