Mark Forsythe
"Go west, young man." Mark Forsythe
is an Ontario transplant who heeded the call in 1974 (a day
spent on Galiano Island as child convinced him he probably wouldn't regret it). Fresh out of London's Fanshawe College, he stepped off the CNR's Rupert (aka Skeena) Rocket at Smithers,
B.C. - the Bulkley Valley claimed his heart faster than the conductor could cry "All
Aboard!" He learned the ropes in private radio there and in Prince George, where he was Program Director at CJCI Radio.
In 1984, he joined CBC Radio at Prince Rupert, hosting and producing the regional afternoon and
morning programs. When CBC Radio established new bureaus in Prince George and Kelowna in 1989, Mark moved to the Okanagan
to co-host Daybreak. He moved to Vancouver a year later and now lives in historic Fort Langley.
Mark was co-winner of a Webster Award for a
documentary on native/non-native relationships and nominated with CBC reporter
Karen Tankard for their series 'No Fish, No Future.' After hosting The
Afternoon Show for five years he's now heard between noon and 2:00 on B.C. Almanac. News, current affairs and a one hour open line
connects listeners around the province.
Mark edited and wrote the British Columbia Almanac
in 2001 with net proceeds directed to B.C. Childrens Hospital. In 2005 The BC Almanac Book of Greatest British Columbians (a
project with colleague Greg Dickson) was published - royalties to Friends of
the B.C. Archives.
Passions include: reading and writing - with a
focus on B.C. authors (he's a columnist in BC Bookworld
and feature writer for various B.C. publications), running, fly fishing,
photography and plucking guitar. He teaches evening courses in Writing for the
Media at BCIT with CBC colleague Daniel Getz.
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Personalities and production units
are being juggled and squeezed for the fall season as CBC Radio Vancouver
prepares for another round of budget cuts set for April 1997.
Beginning in September, Cecilia
Walters, host of the Vancouver-produced show Almanac, which airs from noon to 2 p.m. weekdays, is being shuffled to an
undetermined position in the newsroom. Current Afternoon Show host Mark
Forsythe is to replace Walters.
July 29/96 Vancouver Sun
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BC Radio History