Trudy Eagan

Memories of the Toronto Sun - Trudy Eagan 

As we approach the 40th anniversary . . .

   
I will always remember having lunch with Doug Creighton the day before I was hired. Ann Rankin, then JDC's secretary, had become a friend and was planning on going back to school and pursuing a law degree. She asked me if I might be interested in meeting Doug and applying for her job before she left.
 
I jumped at the chance and was immediately smitten as I sat across the desk from Doug in the Eclipse building. He asked me a ton of questions and then looked me straight in the eye and said: "I will hire you and give you enough rope to either climb it or hang yourself.  I will throw you into situations where you might be terrified at the beginning, but the true test will be how you handle those situations."

I loved every minute of my learning experiences with JDC . . . even the ones where I was absolutely terrified. He was always quietly in the background ready to help, if necessary, and his confidence in me gave me great strength. It was a fabulous learning experience and I feel very fortunate to have been part of one of Canada's great success stories.

 
My first immersion into the world of Paul Rimstead still makes me laugh. Some of you will remember back in the early days when JDC decided all staff would have a choice of either a turkey voucher or wine for Christmas (I think it was wine?).

Except for Rimstead.

He told Doug he didn't want a damn turkey or a silly bottle of wine but insisted on his favorite liqueur as his present. He came down to 333 King St. East to pick it up around 10 a.m. one day; stood at the counter, which ran in front of my desk and that of Sue Stephenson and Christina Blizzard just outside Doug's office; found a glass from someone's office . . . and proceeded to drink the entire bottle - all the while talking to me, Sue, Chris, Doug and everyone who dropped by to say hello. I couldn't believe he still appeared perfectly sober when he went off to lunch with JDC!

 
When I left Sun Media in June 2002 after 28 years, it had changed so much that I hardly recognized it. I was sad to say farewell to the people that remained, who had been there for many years and given their hearts and souls to turning it into not only a very successful company, but also a company that I still think of as family. I do remain in touch with several.
 
On November 1, as we celebrate the 40th anniversary of The Little Paper That Grew (even though it seems like a hundred years ago that we used that slogan) there will be two Sun parties celebrating success. 
 
I have been reading the comments about the fact there are two parties, but believe there are definitely enough good stories and good memories for both.

One party is for those who are no longer employees of Sun Media, but our hearts remain in the family; and the other for those who remain at Sun Media. A few employees will attend both.

The fact there is a cost for attending the reunion party makes lots of sense to me.  It is a group effort led by Bev Bester, which will be emceed by Tom MacMillan, and unless we each pick up our own tab it would be impossible to have this party. 

 
Let us all celebrate the good times and remember we worked as hard as we played for so many years. Let's put the 'sad memories' on hold for the night and enjoy seeing many people with whom we became friends over the years.

p.s. And let's all sing Celebration at least once that day in memory of that amazing party we held at the SkyDome, which will go down in history as one of the all time great events!

Here's to Doug, Don and Peter and their incredible vision.

 
And a big thank you to John Cosway, who has single handily kept this Sun Family blog going since we all parted ways from 333 King St. East.  It has been a great way to stay in touch with the people we worked with for many years, laughed with for almost as long, and still miss. 

Trudy Eagan

Toronto

If you are a Toronto Sun Day Oner and have a bio or memories to share, please email with a photo before Nov. 1.

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