Veteran Canadian broadcaster Lloyd Robertson dead at 92
Veteran broadcaster died Tuesday evening
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broadcaster → die → 92
Lloyd Robertson, who delivered the news to Canadians in an authoritative and unflappable manner for more than 40 years as anchor for the flagship news programs of CTV and CBC, has died.
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who → deliver → CTV
His death was first reported by CTV and was confirmed by a family member to CBC News.
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death → report → News
Robertson stepped away as CTV National News anchor in 2011 after 35 years, having joined the network in a move from CBC that reshaped Canadian broadcast news.
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that → step → news
"Someone came along with this … on my terms, in my life at precisely the right moment, and it was irresistible.
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it → come → moment
I couldn't turn it down," he told CBC's Take 30 in 1976, days after accepting the offer.
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he → turn → offer
At CTV, Robertson helped lead coverage of 11 federal elections, three Canadian-hosted Olympic Games and two Quebec referendums, as well as tragedies like the 1985 Air India bombing, 1989 Montreal massacre and the Sept. 11 attacks.
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Robertson → lead → bombing
He also helped share inspiring stories such as Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope.
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He → help → Hope
Robertson frequently spoke of enjoying being at the centre of attention for events shaping Canada and the world, but his on-air style was once accurately described as "self-effacing and lacking in the watch-me swagger of most news anchors," by Globe and Mail television critic John Doyle.
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style → speak → Doyle
Robertson was "the guy with the smallest ego I've ever seen in the television business, when he has a right to the largest one," Henry Kowalski, former CTV news chief, told the same newspaper in 2001.
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Kowalski → see → 2001
"He was not just a fine journalist but a fine person," said Peter Mansbridge, former chief correspondent for CBC News, describing Robertson as a "friend and colleague of mine for more than 50 years.
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Mansbridge → say → years
"His audience believed him, and they trusted him.
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they → believe → him
He set the bar for those who anchored newscasts across the country, and he will always be remembered for that.
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he → set → that
In addition to a number of industry awards during his career, he was inducted as an officer into the Order of Canada in 1997 and into the Canadian News Hall of Fame for the Canadian Journalism Foundation in 2016.
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he → induct → 2016
"If you find something that you love to do, and you're able to do it, that's about as good as it gets in life," Robertson said in a 2012 CTV documentary And That's the Life I Led.
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I → find → documentary
Robertson was born in Stratford, Ont., on Jan. 19, 1934, to parents George and Lilly, the youngest of their two children by nine years.
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Robertson → bear → years
He also had eight older half-siblings from the first marriage of his father, whose ancestors emigrated from Scotland in the mid-19th century.
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ancestors → have → century
He hung on the advice and political musings of his father, a Canadian National Railway machinist, and the pair enjoyed radio comedies together.
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pair → hang → comedies
But it was often a "dreary home life," he wrote in his 2012 memoir The Kind of Life It's Been, owing to his British mother's struggles with mental illness.
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It → write → illness
Prone to bouts of paranoia and obsessive-compulsive behaviour, she would be lobotomized when he was 14, quelling her mind to a degree but dulling her emotional connection with her son.
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he → lobotomize → son
"I couldn't have kids to the house, I couldn't tell them about her," he told CBC's George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight in 2012.
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he → have → 2012
High school classmates, in the 2012 CTV documentary that accompanied his memoir, remembered a friend who gave little sign of turmoil.
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who → accompany → turmoil
Robertson was popular, participating in debate and a barbershop quartet at Stratford Central Secondary School.
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Robertson → participate → School
22-year run at CBC
Already gifted with a smooth voice, he'd been intrigued by radio after standing near reporters covering a post-war parade in his hometown in 1946.
"I just remember being fascinated by the voices of the two commentators as they painted vivid pictures of the marchers and the joyous crowds," he wrote in his memoir.
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he → gift → memoir
At just 17, he persuaded Stratford radio station CJCS to give him an opportunity, overcoming an early on-air bungled pronunciation of the city name as "Strat-herd."
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he → persuade → herd
He didn't consider going beyond high school, learning the craft of radio at private stations in Stratford and Guelph, before beginning a 22-year run with the public broadcaster in 1954 in Windsor.
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He → consider → Windsor
For Robertson, 1956 was a momentous year — his elderly father died just months after he landed at CBC Winnipeg for his first foray into television.
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he → die → television
That year he also married Nancy Barrett, a high school sweetheart with whom he had remained in touch.
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he → marry → touch
The couple would welcome four daughters born in Winnipeg, Ottawa and Toronto, reflecting Robertson's peripatetic, upward climb.
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couple → welcome → climb
In his memoir, he remembered his four-plus years in Winnipeg as "among my happiest and most productive," and he even donned Western garb to host the country-flavoured Saddle Songs.
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he → remember → Songs
He then honed political chops with a two-year stint with CBC Ottawa — though it wasn't all Parliament Hill business, as he hosted a show about the CFL's Ottawa Rough Riders.
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he → hone → Riders
In 1962 came an offer from the corporation the couple couldn't refuse, and another move.
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couple → come → corporation
Robertson would remember being at the "bottom of the pile" of 30 announcers, all male, at CBC Toronto.
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all → remember → Toronto
Robertson would separate himself over time, displaying adaptability by hosting a kid's show, the athletics program Kaleidosport, and a host of news and magazine programs.
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Robertson → separate → programs
Many Canadian radio listeners first heard of John F. Kennedy's assassination in 1963 from Robertson, and he would score high-profile network assignments for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and Expo '67 in Montreal.
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he → hear → Montreal
Robertson was cool and collected on air, but admitted years later that co-anchoring the 1969 moon shot by U.S. astronauts gave him pause.
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anchoring → admit → pause
"I had to pinch myself to be sure I was really living through this momentous time," he wrote.
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he → have → time
Robertson would be rewarded with the network's plum assignment of anchoring The National in late 1970.
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Robertson → reward → 1970
It was a baptism by fire, as within days the Front de libération du Québec would plunge the province and country into crisis, kidnapping British diplomat James Cross and ultimately killing provincial minister Pierre Laporte.
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Québec → plunge → Laporte
CBC's news and current affairs roster was deep in the first years of that decade — future Canadian news anchors Peter Kent, Peter Trueman, Peter Mansbridge and Jan Tennant, along with budding stars like Adrienne Clarkson, Barbara Frum and Alex Trebek.
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roster → bud → Clarkson
…and 23 more, not listed.
