Allison Elkin was the Spring 2015 co-chief copy editor of the RRJ. Andy Barrie has left the building
CBC Toronto’s Metro Morning host Andy Barrie is officially off the airwaves. The revered radio man hosted his last show Thursday but came back this morning to be interviewed by Matt Galloway and serenaded by Moxy Fruvous.
Dedicated Toronto listeners are mourning his departure after a 45-year career, first in private radio, then at CBC. “Andy is like the Platonic model of what Canadian public broadcasting should be,” wrote Rick Salutin in his Globe and Mail column. “This is despite the fact that he grew up in the United States, came here as a deserter in the Vietnam years and spent most of his career in private radio. Or maybe it’s because of those things.”
Salutin believes Andy was so loved because he showed listeners a respect forgotten by other broadcasters and reporters. Now that he’s gone, Salutin wonders whether his show will retain that same quality. “I presume the Einsteins who dumbed down the rest of CBC plan to move in and relevant it to death.”
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