Congrats to Les Pyette, pictured with daughter Kaydi.
From the Sault Ste. Marie Star
SAULT STE. MARIE - Les
Pyette was born and raised in Sault Ste. Marie, where he began his long
and productive newspaper career as a sports reporter at his hometown
paper when he was still in high school.
He was bitten so hard by the journalism bug in those early days that
he quit school to take a full-time job at the Sault Daily Star in 1963
for $65 a week, at the tender age of 17.
Pyette worked his way up to top executive positions at several
newspapers in Canada and was founding editor-in-chief of the Calgary Sun
in 1980.
He has travelled much of the world as a news man, but he never forgot
about the people back home. He made regular trips back to the Sault to
visit with family, which never seem far from his heart.
Pyette spent 41 years in the news business, 29 of them with Sun papers.
His efforts have led him into newsrooms across the country, to
Taiwan, Japan, South Africa and many cities in the U.S., and
distinguished him as one of the top news men in the nation.
Last fall he took his place in the Canadian News Hall of Fame among other greats in the industry.
On Saturday afternoon he was under the big tent on the Sault
waterfront at the Roberta Bondar Pavilion to receive an honorary degree
from Algoma University, and also deliver the commencement speech at the
school's convocation ceremony.
“Who would have thunk that I would be standing here (now), when I was
chasing all those sports stories around the Sault 50 years ago,” said
Pyette, 69, who lives in London, Ont., but still calls the Sault “home.”
The Doctor of Letters (honoris causa) Degree is awarded by AU to
recognize outstanding achievement by a person outside the university,
said academic dean Arthur Perlini during his introduction of Pyette.
“Mr. Pyette's achievements in Canadian journalism are outstanding and
have been acknowledged so by his peers, as well as the readership of
many of the newspapers he has spearheaded,” said the dean.
“His career contributions and achievements ... are recognized today as those of a newspaper legend,” Perlini added.
Pyette was soft spoken and most when he took his turn at the microphone.
“Thank you so much for bestowing this honour on a poor kid from
Connaught Avenue — Korah Road and Second Line. (It's) hard to believe,”
he said.
Pyette tipped his hat to his mother and father from the podium.
“Both are long gone now ... They raised five boys and two girls in a
little war-time house on Connaught Avenue. The morals and the values
that they taught us still hold dear with us today,” he said.
He made special mention of his brothers, Norris, Nellie, Ron and Al, who were in the audience.
Pyette said his father wasn't home much when he was growing up
because he worked two jobs. It was oldest brother Norris who drove the
boys to hockey games and taught them to drive.
“(He) taught us not to take any BS from anybody ... I owe a lot to older brother Norris.”
Pyette became a bit emotional while recognizing Nellie, Ron and Al, “For all their love and support over the years.”
He said he didn't know what to make of university president Richard
Myers when he called to tell him the school wanted to present him with
the honorary degree. He thought one of his old friends from the Sault
was putting him on.
“I'm humbled and honoured to be standing here,” he told the crowd of nearly 1,000 that filled the tent. “Thank you so much from the bottom of my Sault Ste. Marie heart for this wonderful honour. I will cherish it forever.”
Although he was still playing hockey and baseball when he began
working for the Sault Star in 1963, Pyette's duties took him to local
ball diamonds, soccer fields and the former Memorial Gardens to also
gather game statistics and talk to coaches.
He provided the information to reporters at the Star who wrote the
stories. He didn't actually get a byline until he had been on the job
for six months.
After playing in a hockey game in Sudbury late in 1963 he called the Star to provide details and comments about the game.
“A guy named Greg Douglas took it (the information) and he made a story,” Pyette said during an interview after convocation.
He was shocked to see the story across the top of the sports page the next day — with his byline on it. It was one of those indelible moments.
“I was bitten hard. I was turned on right there” to the newspaper business.
Pyette worked at the Sault Star until 1967 when he applied for a job at a small paper in Illinois,“as a lark.”
To his surprise he got the job and worked three years in the U.S.
before returning to Canada to continue his trade, later becoming editor
at the Toronto Sun, then founding editor-in-chief of the Calgary Sun,
publisher and CEO of both Sun papers and the London Free Press.
Through his career he also served as executive editor of the Toronto
Sun, general manager at the Calgary Sun and vice-president of Sun Media
before retiring in 2003.
He returned briefly to the news business in 2004 as publisher and CEO of the National Post for one year.
Pyette's advice to the 2014 graduating class was terse and simple.
“Believe in yourself, don't take no for an answer,” he told the more than 200 students in attendance.
Back in the '70s when the “upstart” Toronto Sun opened its doors, the
so-called media experts predicted the paper wouldn't last six months,
he said.
“But as you know, it's 43 years later and it's still going.”
It takes a lot of hard work to be successful, he told the students.
There were many late nights and early mornings during his 40-plus years
in the news business.
And he took some chances along the way, he said, such as leaving a secure job to begin a new venture.
“I can tell you students, no one is going to give you anything, you
have to stick to your principles and work your butt off to gain a
measure of success in this working world,” he said.
“Buckle down and concentrate and listen to your instincts, listen to
your gut. If you're lucky you'll find something that you like. And if
the door of opportunity opens, walk right through it and don't look
back.”
