Bill Dobson – 1930-2006
Bill Dobson - CHUB Nanaimo 1949; CJVI Victoria early 1950s;
CKLG North Vancouver 1955-61; reporter/editor CBC-TV Vancouver 1961-86 and
co-host The
Best Years 1986-87; Senior Editor
CBC Radio Vancouver 1987-89; retired 1989. Died in Princeton BC November
24, 2006 at age 75
Bill was born on December 6, 1930.
His long career in broadcasting began in the late 1940's with CHUB Radio in
Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. A few years later, he joined CJVI Radio in
Victoria and it was there he met Ted Reynolds and Bob Switzer, both of whom
became life-long friends. In 1955 when CKLG Radio was founded on the
North Shore of Vancouver by Gordon Gibson, Bill joined their staff and in February,
1961 he was hired as a Reporter/Editor with CBC Television News in
Vancouver. For the next twenty-five years, Bill worked tirelessly and
enthusiastically at reporting the news and then, beginning with the 1986/87
season, Bill co-hosted The Best Years series
with Joyce Resin for several years. He then transferred to CBC Radio in
Vancouver as Senior Editor for the two years prior to his retirement in 1989.
Mike Oldfield has paid tribute to Bill with the following reminiscinces:
"To those who worked with him in both Television and Radio News, Bill was
the class clown; the one who could make everybody laugh either with his antics
in the old Bute Street newsroom, his ability to inject humour into his news
reports or his lunchtime antics on hot summer days in the new building when he
would dash out in his bathing suit and take a dip in the small waterfall at the
front of the plaza. He also held the distinction of being the only CBC
newsman who was fearless enough to climb to the top of the big red W on the old
Woodwards building to do a stand-up. Luckily his cameraman had a very
long microphone cable and he stayed down on the rooftop.
Bill enjoyed travelling both to his favourite hotel in Waikiki, Hawaii and to
peaceful remote spots on the Oregon coast. He loved to get together with
work-mates for morning coffee in the cafeteria but would quickly grow tired of
boring chit-chat. He prided himself on his ability to turn any
conversation around by injecting a few ribald comments into the fray and
replacing shoptalk with his off-the-wall humour.
An accomplished artist working in oils, Bill also enjoyed scrimshaw carving and
was always on the lookout for a piece of whalebone on which to practice his
craft.
Bill was a fun-loving guy who will be sadly missed by all those who knew
him."
Bill was predeceased by his wife. He is survived by his daughter
Catherine MacDonald and family.