Image: CBC Still Photo Collection

For three hours a day, five days a week — for 15 years — millions tuned in to CBC Radio’s Morningside and Peter Gzowski. Despite Gzowski’s dishevelled appearance — sweaters with cigarette burns, big glasses and pockmarked skin — this beloved radio host cast his folksy charm across the country. When Gzowski died in this day five years ago, Canadians paid tribute to the broadcaster whose stammering informality and comforting voice had become a symbol for Canada.

The bright lights of TV lure the popular host away from radio. (Radio; runs 1:37)After three seasons as the host of This Country in the Morning, Peter Gzowski says goodbye to radio. The three-hour weekday morning show, with its mixed bag of interviews, music, essays and recipes, was the most popular CBC Radio show at the time. In the last few minutes of the final program, an emotional Gzowski thanks his listeners, saying he’s taking time off for a rest and a change. He ends the show by promising to return to CBC Radio one day. He did.

Stuart McLean and Peter Gzowski break down in a laughing fit. (Radio; runs 13:47) “He’s not well,” says Gzowski looking at the cricket Stuart McLean has brought into the studio. The “sleeping” cricket is just one of a long list of bargains McLean has purchased for one dollar. In the middle of McLean’s account of all the things he has managed to buy – toothpicks, city water, penny matches and chalks – the cricket’s relaxed state results in both Gzowski and McLean breaking down in fits of uncontrollable laughter. “It’s him it’s not me,” says McLean, gasping for breath in the in the middle of their gut-sucking, out-of-control laughter.

Canada’s beloved broadcaster says au revoir. (TV; runs 2:42)After 15 years of hosting his daily three-hour morning show, Peter Gzowski signs off. In a makeshift studio in Moose Jaw, Sask., the beloved host of Morningside bids “au revoir.” The loss of Captain Canada, Gzowski’s nickname for his effort in bringing the country together, is a sad occasion for legions of his loyal listeners. “I feel like I’m losing an old friend,” says a woman echoing the sentiment of some 1.5 million listeners who have regularly tuned in to Morningside.

The text and clips above are from the CBC Digital Archives web site. Its full biographical topic, Peter Gzowski: Voice of Canada, is now online. As well, the folks at CBC Archives have encoded more than 150 Gzowski clips ranging from a 1969 interview with Moses Znaimer (on Radio Free Friday) until the final episode of Morningside (1977).

As for rememberances…

Remembering Peter

Did you work with Peter Gzowski? Or did you listen to his show and have any memories of how he or his work interacted with your life?

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