The beat goes on, but with fewer TSF blog insiders, the pulse is much weaker.
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| Jean Houghton |
Another season, another reason for Toronto Sun Family members to stay in touch.
On a sad note, we say farewell to Max Haines, the Toronto Sun's crime writer who turned murder and mayhem into an industry. Mike Strobel came out of retirement to pay homage to gentle Max, who died Sept. 30. Feel free to add your comments.
By Mike Strobel,
Death was Max Haines’ stock in trade. No one could write murder and mayhem like Max.
In his deft hands, death came alive — for 34 years, 28 books and 2,500 wildly popular Crime Flashback columns in the Sun.
Name the demise and Max wrote about it, with a twinkle and a wry
touch: Decapitation, poison, strangling, shooting, stabbing, vats of
acid, bludgeoning...
Max made murder fun, death droll.
But there is nothing fun or droll about progressive supranuclear
palsy (PSP). It is a rare, slow and incurable neurological scourge akin
to Parkinson’s disease.
It claimed Max Haines, at age 86, in the wee hours of Saturday at his Etobicoke home.
There never was a newspaperman quite like him. A story-teller without peer.
Funny, but it all started with faulty pantyhose.
Max had sallied forth from Antigonish, Nova Scotia, to conquer the
world of women’s undergarments. He set up shop in Toronto. Business was
brisk — but brief. One fateful day, Max forgot to check the elastic
waistbands on a big shipment of pantyhose leaving his factory.
Soon, a hue and cry arose from women across Canada — and Max looked around for a new career.
His passion was writing true crime stories and in 1972 he walked into
the Sun newsroom with a sample, about iconic axe-murder suspect Lizzie
Borden. It was the best $15 managing editor Ed Monteith ever spent.
Max, triumphant, returned to his car, where the lovely Marilyn and daughters Susan, Maureen and Eleanor were waiting.
“We all went out for ice cream,” Marilyn tells me Saturday, from her home, as the family gathers.
As any longtime Sun reader knows, Lizzie Borden was just the start.
Over three decades, Max’s columns were gathered into books like
Bothersome Bodies, Doctors Who Kill, Multiple Murderers II, and
Celebrity Murders and Other Nefarious Deeds.
My favourite Max Haines fiends included the snake Bob James, who
arranged for a rattler to bite his wife and Englishman John Haigh, who
dissolved six victims in sulphuric acid and poured them in his back
yard.
The heinous Mr. Haigh did not know gallstones are too gritty even for acid — an oversight that helped hang him.
I asked Max how to commit the perfect murder. (Hypothetically, of course.)
“Move to Texas,” he replied. “Everyone has a gun down there. The good
wife always says, ‘Gee I thought it was an intruder and it was dark and
I plugged him in the heart.”
“And in Texas, you need two kills to your credit before they take you seriously.”
Max retired in 2006, though Crime Flashback lived on in syndication.
The Sun city desk still gets calls from readers demanding his return.
None of those calls, I’ll bet, was from Dennis Melvyn Howe, the
presumed killer of Sharin’ Morningstar Keenan. The nine-year-old girl
was found strangled in Howe’s rooming house on Brunswick Ave. in 1983, a
case that shocked Toronto out of all innocence.
Max never gave up the hunt for Howe, who is now 77 if he’s still in
our midst. Max chased lead after lead, kept a mug shot in his wallet and
often revisited the case in his column.
“He’s my boogeyman,” Max told me.
Says Marilyn: “Max wanted to find that guy so badly.”
What sweet irony it would be if news of Haines’ death triggers a memory, or stirs a conscience, in someone out there.
What a fitting tribute to Max that would be.
Another season, another reason to stay in touch...
All of TSF's reliable tipsters have retired, been fired, been bought out or have sold out so feel free to enlighten us with TSF news that counts.
The 45th anniversary of the Toronto Sun will be marked on Nov. 1, 2016. Have your say on the anniversary or any other Sun-related topic.
Toronto Sun
At 30 - 2015
Jennifer Gough, 63 – January 1
Early in January, PM axed former Sun Media weekly What's Up Muskoka and Muskoka Magazine, published 10 times per year.
On Black Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016, PM announced more cuts at Suns in Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton. At least one other paper saw cuts.
TSF forum posts:
None gone from Ottawa Citizen today, but 12 gone from the Ottawa Sun newsroom: Chris Hofley, Mike Sutherland-Shaw, Matt Day, Corey Larocque, Tony Spears, Shane Ross, Paul Rutherford, Don Wilcox, Danielle Dube, Keaton Robbins, Sam Cooley, Julienne Bay. Surviving in OttSun editorial because of seniority provided in the CBA: columnist Sue Sherring (go figure), reporter Jon Willing, photogs Tony Caldwell and Errol McGihon, reporter Aedan Helmer, sports guys Tim Baines, Bruce Garrioch and Don Brennan, ME Michelle Walters. Bets are the Sun will be shuttered on Friday, April 1 right after the Competition Bureau's influence ends.
2 mail room staff cut in Sarnia, 3 sales people are reported to have left for other employment. Part of the duplication now that Windsor is printing their products? Oh and someone mentioned print quality would be better in Windsor...apparently not.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/…/postmedia…/article23895298/
With fond memories of Doug, Peter, Don and others in the 62 or so Day
Oners Club, we say farewell to one of North America's print media
success stories gone awry thanks to corporate power plays, greed and
mismanagement by new owners.
As others have said, those who were
around to share in the glory years have memories - and stories - to
last a lifetime. In my book, the Toronto Sun was an Ali, a Gretzky, a
Pele, a Woods. Shooting stars to be remembered as one-of-a-kind experiences.
The Toronto Sun Family blog, launched in 2006, has topped the one million visits mark, with almost two million page views.
That speaks volumes for the interest in the roots and early growth of the Toronto Sun and its siblings and the relentless Quebecor downsizing since 1999.
Most of the reliable tipsters who kept TSF informed of happenings at their Sun Media newspapers have been laid off or have moved on to other jobs.
A change in ownership this year will bring to an end the blog as a means of reporting Sun Media activities, but we will still have memories of the glory years to share.
Thanks a million for your interest in this blog.
What will become of the remnants of Sun Media in 2015? There is apprehension in the air as spring begins and we await a decision on the purchase bid by PM.
A virtual Canadian News Hall of Fame profiling more than 100 inductees is ready to go, says Ian Connerty, former chair.
"For about $5,000, we could have a virtual Hall of Fame on the Internet to
honour and respect the six newest inductees and the other 113 members
of the Hall of Fame," says Connerty.
All that is needed, says Connerty, is $5,000 from the Toronto Press and Media Club, which owns the rights to the Hall of Fame, to cover the cost of the website.
Over to you, TPC.
As it stands, Hall of Fame plaques honouring Canadian newspaper greats, including Toronto Telegram and Toronto Sun vets, sit in storage gathering dust.
No Christmas layoffs for the TSF forums this year, but keep in touch as we close 2014 and begin a new year with new owners on the horizon.
Merry Christmas to all and to all the best in 2015.
Updated Nov. 20 re Celebration of Life
Don Hunt, the last of the Toronto Sun's three co-founders, died yesterday in Toronto from leukaemia. He was 85.
A Celebration of Life will be held Monday, Nov. 24 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at St. George’s Golf and Country Club, 1668 Islington Avenue in Etobicoke.
The last time we remember Don and fellow co-founders Doug Creighton and Peter Worthington, standing shoulder to shoulder was during the Toronto Sun's memorable 20th anniversary shindig at SkyDome, complete with a midway and fireworks.
That thank you party - and earlier parties and gestures - said it all for their respect for employees who made the tabloid a huge success in the first two decades. A year later, the party ended with Doug's ouster from the board.
Don left the Toronto Sun in 1988 to work at the Houston Post after it was purchased by the Sun and then the Denver Post, but returned to Toronto in 1991 for the 20th anniversary party.
There were a few sets of brothers working at the Sun in the early years, including Don and his brother, Jim, a celebrated sports writer. Their smiles and laughter were contagious.
So, at 30 the last of three men who led the charge at 222 King Street West, in a factory setting, and 333 King Street West, in a new building four years later.
Don Hunt, founding general manager.
Doug Creighton, founding publisher, died from Parkinson's disease at 75 on Jan. 7, 2004.
Peter Worthington, founding editor, died from staph infection complications at 86 on May 13, 2013,
We are forever indebted to Doug, Peter and Don.
Memories of Don can be posted here or emailed to thecos@the-wire.com
Fellow Day Oner Christina Blizzard wrote Don's obit for today's Sun:
TORONTO - He was a gentle giant of a
guy — a newspaper legend who had printer’s ink in his veins and a
brilliant business mind that guided the Toronto Sun through its
financially perilous early years.
Don Hunt, the paper’s first general manager, died Tuesday at Toronto General Hospital of leukaemia.
He was 85.
While former colleagues at the Sun remembered him for his business
smarts, his daughter, Patricia, is mourning him as a loving father,
grandfather and great-grandfather.
At 6-foot-6, he was a big guy with a big heart, who liked nothing more than to take his grandkids to the beach.
“It was his childhood dream to start a newspaper,” she said in an interview. “He wrote for his high school newspaper when he was 12.”
Hunt was one of the triumvirate that founded the Sun. The late Doug
Creighton was the publisher. Peter Worthington, who died last year, was
the editor.
Hunt was the third leg in the stool, so to speak, the calm business
voice who kept a steady control over the paper’s finances, while
Creighton and Worthington focused on the editorial side of the business.
An avid sports enthusiast, Hunt always insisted sports be given prominence in the Sun.
“He loved the Detroit Tigers and loved to go to games at Tiger Stadium,” Patricia recalled.
He leaves his wife of 59 years, Helen, as well as five children, Patricia, Cameron, Andrea Fennessey, Ian and Paula.
He also had 10 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
“He loved to go to Florida and play on the beach with them,” she said.
Hunt grew up in Sarnia and was in the fourth graduating year of the
University of Western Ontario’s journalism program. He had two brothers,
Jack and Jim “Shakey” Hunt, also a sports writer.
He started working for the Montreal Star when he was 17 and later
moved to Toronto, where he joined the now-defunct Toronto Telegram. When
the Tely folded, he moved to the Sun.
His storied journalism career included meetings with Fidel Castro and
Che Guevera when he covered the winter league baseball in Cuba. He’d
met many U.S. presidents, including Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford and George
H.W. Bush.
He had drinks in the White House with Ronald Reagan.
“He was a great father and he was always the life of the party,” Patricia recalled.
Hunt loved to play golf and baseball, and in his teens played basketball against the Harlem Globetrotters.
He was also instrumental in starting Can-Am Racing, a predecessor of
what is now the Honda Indy and he promoted F1 racing at Mosport.
Hunt quit the Sun in 1988 to go to the Houston Post. He later moved to the Denver Post.
Glen Woodcock, who was the Sun’s first production manager, recalled
the fledgling Sun could not have survived without Hunt’s firm hand on
the tiller.
“Without Don, we wouldn’t have had any success,” said Woodcock, who now writes an auto column for the Sun.
He remembered a guy who would always watching the dollars.
“He was the guy who kept us on the straight and narrow when it came to spending money in the early days,” Woodcock said.
“Doug was a spender. I think without Don Hunt we would probably have
gone broke in the first couple of months - or maybe the first couple of
weeks.”
Hunt had ran the Tely’s syndicate department, and brought the rights to many features to the Sun.
Woodcock remembers he always wanted to run the Peanuts cartoon in the Sun — but Hunt balked.
“He wouldn’t let me have Peanuts because we could make $200 a week
from the Star,” he said. “And I understood. He was absolutely right.”
While he was careful with cash, Hunt would loosen the purse strings if he saw a good idea.
Woodcock pitched the idea of running a Day in the Life of Toronto -
and asked for an unheard-of 28 clear pages to run photographs from all
the Sun photographers.
“I went upstairs to Don and said, ‘Two weeks from Sunday, I’d like to
have 28 extra clear pages.’ He looked at me and said, ‘What for.’”
When Woodcock explained, Hunt didn’t hesitate: “You’ve got them,” he said.
He also remembers Hunt okaying putting a pop machine in the darkroom - except instead of ginger ale, it was stocked with beer.
“It lasted for a week until there was a drunken brawl between the
circulation department and the composing room,” Woodcock recalled.
“Don told me to get rid of it - and out it went.”
Cartoonist Andy Donato remembers Hunt as the quiet guy who was always
working in his corner office and who stayed away from office politics.
“Peter and Doug were the ones out front. He was never the kind of guy who wanted the limelight,” Donato recalled.
“He was just a damned good general manager. He was a journalist, a
sports writer, who became the general manager of a big, successful
company.”
After Hunt moved to the Houston Post, he wanted to stay on the board
of the Toronto Sun. When the Sun balked, he sold his stock and stayed in
the U.S.
“He was the steady guy in the middle who kept Doug and Peter apart - the voice of sanity,” Donato said.
Sun Media’s v-p of editorial, Glenn Garnett, recalled that Hunt was a
good sport who at one legendary event dressed up as General George
Patton for an advertising department motivational party.
Garnett, who edited the Sun’s official history, The Little Paper That
Grew, by Jean Sonmor, said there was a great deal of tension between
Hunt and Creighton in Hunt’s latter years with the company.
“We got the impression he was very much the hard-driving,
hard-as-nails businessman behind two very outgoing, affable guys,” he
said. “I’d describe him as the steel spine of the Sun.”
The last time the three Sun founders got together was at a lavish party at SkyDome, now Rogers Centre.
In 1991, Creighton had laid out a massive celebration, complete with a merry-go-round.
The last picture of them together, they’re on that merry-go-round.
In his book, Looking For Trouble, Worthington remembered Hunt as the
guy affectionately dubbed “Dr. No.” He was the guy who told everyone we
couldn’t afford big expenses and had to live within our means.
“For all his blunt, sometimes insensitive exterior, Hunt was kind,
scrupulously honest and competent,” Worthington wrote in his book.
Long-time Sun editor John Downing recalled that Hunt lived near him
in Etobicoke and one of the paper’s first carriers in that area was one
of Hunt’s sons. Downing’s son took over when he quit.
Downing said Hunt rarely got into political discussions, but would
simply sit on the side as Worthington and Creighton quibbled about which
politicians they’d support.
He recalled Hunt as a calm presence in a business where tempers could often flare.
He also remembered him as the guy who was very much his own man - and wouldn’t listen to what others were telling him.
“When the Tely folded, Don sued (Tely owner) John Bassett - and won,”
Downing recalled. Downing had been advised not to sue — and regrets not
having collected money he was owed.
A Celebration of Hunt’s life will take place 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday, Nov. 24, at St. George’s Golf and Country Club, 1668 Islington Avenue in Etobicoke.
