30 - Paul King

Paul King never worked for the Toronto Sun, but his presence was often felt during newsroom banter about local media legends.

Former Sun staffers Ron Base and Brian Vallee helped Toronto Star reporter Tracy Huffman give Paul a fitting sendoff following his death Friday from cancer. He was 72.

The Manitoulin Island-born reporter, ghost writer, author and world traveller enjoyed one amazing ride for a preacher's son.

AMW 1,000

We've been Googling this week, looking for original Canadian media coverage of America's Most Wanted 1,000th capture, to be celebrated this Saturday night on Fox.

But the pickings are slim. It's been all wire, wire, wire.

Toronto's 680 News picked up Tuesday's Associated Press story by Frazier Moore, which includes an interview with John Walsh, the tireless crime fighting host. CTV.ca is using the same story, as is the Canadian Press and the Toronto Star.com.

Zilch for Sun Media.

Frazier Moore's AP story is a good read, but we were thinking Canadian TV writers, or crime writers, would write their own stories about the AMW milestone and how Canada and Canadians have contributed to the success of the program.

But nothing original from this side of the border that we've seen and that is a crime.

CBS & garlic

If CBS is serious about abandoning Moonlight after one successful season, the Toronto Sun's Bill Harris and other TV critics should spearhead a garlic mail-in campaign.

The chemistry between Alex O'Loughlin and Sophia Myles in the past few Moonlight episodes left us looking forward to more episodes.

But adding a TV series to your must-see list these days is akin to a death watch. The irony is a lot of reality crap and lame, laugh-track sitcoms survive longer than quality series programming.

TV viewers must be getting tired of devoting hours to a series only to see it abandoned midstream, with no resolution offered.

There is a large graveyard somewhere, the resting place of dozens of TV series cancelled before their time, with mourners wondering what might have been had the series run their courses.

What really happened during the bank robbery in The Nine?

Who was the real killer in Reunion?

What was the fate of the cast in Invasion?

Where were the characters in Six Degrees heading in their relationships?

Enough is enough.

Moonlight is refreshing, well-scripted, quirky Friday night escapism, with a rare and realistic chemistry between the leading characters. Let it breathe for more than one season.

It's time to take a stand, Bill Harris, Bill Brioux, John Doyle, Rob Salem et al. Represent your Moonlight-lovin' readers by spearheading a CBS garlic mail-in campaign.

Let's raise a stink.

Fournier & NNAs

Did we miss it, or did the Toronto Sun not publish a single word about Friday's National Newspaper Awards banquet in Toronto?

It took an e-mail to TSF from Bryan Cantley, NNA secretary, to discover that Lew Fournier, a Toronto Sun copy desk vet, was recognized as an "unsung hero for his great career on the desk."

Cantley says Sun Media's participation at the NNAs needs to be mentioned. He writes:

"I wanted to post some info on the Saturday NNA story about the number of Sun Media people recognized at the awards show on Friday.

"Christina Spencer was a co-emcee along with Linwood Barclay of the Star and they were terrific, very funny, very topical.

"Lew Fournier was recognized as an unsung hero for his great career on the desk and was one of the presenters, as was Mandy Martin of Cobourg and Port Hope.

"Lou Clancy paid tribute to two of the greats sportswriters ever - Milt Dunnell and George Gross."

Thanks for the e-mail, Bryan.

We're delighted to hear Lew Fournier took a bow in front of media reps from across Canada. He has been one of the Sun's unsung heroes for more than two decades.

By-Liner No. 1

You find the most interesting collectibles at country estate auctions, including copies of The By-Liner from the 1950s.

The prize for a two-hour wait at a Corneil's country auction in Little Britain, near Lindsay, was The By-Liner, Vol. 1, No. 1, from April of 1951, complete and in excellent reading condition.

This By-Liner, which included a program of events for the Toronto Men's Press Club's By-Line Ball, held April 14, 1951, at the Royal York Hotel, recalls another era of newspaper men and women.

An era when newspaper legends mingled with the greenest of journalists after hours at flourishing press clubs and special events, with the occasional royalty, sports and other celebrities at the bar.

(The second By-Liner from May 1952 includes the classic photo of Jimmy Durante and Ted Reeve nose to nose at the press club.)

In April of 1951, H.E. McCallum was mayor of Toronto and his welcoming message is on Page 4. A full-page message from Wessely Hicks, president of the TMPC, is on Page 6. There is also a greeting from Ruth Honderich Spielberg, president of the Toronto Women's Press Club, on Page 8.

On Page 7, the first paragraph in a story by J.V. McAree reads: "Fifty years ago there were six daily newspapers in Toronto. Today there are three."

The six: The Globe, Telegram, Star, News, Toronto World and Mail and Empire. The three: Globe, Telegram and Star.

That same lead today would read: "Fifty years ago there were three daily newspapers in Toronto. Today there are four."

in 1951, the Toronto Men's Press Club was only seven years old, but already a maker of legendary newspaper tales, involving giants of the business, sports and entertainment celebrities and the occasional royalty.

The first By-Liner captures the mood of the day, with columns by Frank Tumpane, Alex Barris, Bruce West, Ted Reeve, Cay Moore, Milt Dunnell, Marilyn Bell, Jack Karr, Art Chambers, Greg Clark, Scott Young and Byrne Hope Sanders.

The Toronto Sun wouldn't rise for another 20 years, but a few of those newspaper legends would still be around in 1971 to contribute to the success of the tabloid.

Ads in Vol. 1 of The By-Liner also revive memories of another era, including a Maple Leaf Stadium ad announcing the 1951 baseball season opener, Eaton's, Simpson's etc.

Reading the first By-Liner makes us nostalgic for By-Liner Balls, with Patty Conklin's Midway, dancing, a stage show, Firefighters' Awards, the crowning of a Miss By-Liner etc.

And for a time when flourishing press clubs and after hours camaraderie of reporters, photographers, columnists and editors were the order of the day.

The By-Liner, Vol. 1, No. 1 would be the perfect donation to a Canadian media museum - if we had one.

Or we could hold a TSF auction for Volumes 1 and 2.

Any bids?