Pat Burns Collection

A series of pictures and articles of

Pat when fired by CJOR in 1965 and others of that era

Including some memorabilia on his death

a. Burns

b. Pat

c. QE Theatre

d. Newspaper - Vancouver Times

e. Jack letter to Sun on Pat’s death

f. Burns funeral notice

g. webster/burns magazine article

h. elaine alexander – his producer

i. Burns with girl trainee

j. Burns with secretary

k. Burns with secretary Anne McManus– second shot

1. Group of pictures – pat and I

Letter from Anne McManus:

I was involved in Vancouver Radio at an exciting and turbulent time in The Sixties.

I came to Vancouver in 1963 from Sydney, Australia. Through an Aussie contact,

I got a job at CJOR. In those days, The Station was in the basement of the Grosvenor Hotel on Howe Street.

I began in the CJOR Record Library but was soon seconded to work with Pat Burns on

his Open Line Show. I manned the switchboard, took the insults, traced VIP’s

for Pat and attempted to keep his adoring fans at bay.

It was frantic stuff. Some of the highlights, during that period - I tracked down Dr. Martin Luther King to a jail in Selma, Alabama and he spoke 'live' to Pat about Civil Rights. Contacted Senator Robert Kennedy, then Attorney-General, and he gave Pat a lengthy interview; I also remember Pat's interview with

lawyer, Melvin Belli, who was representing Jack Ruby (killer of Lee HarveyOswald).

And there were many, many others.

After a time, Pat began to think his talk back show had the kiss of death because King, Kennedy and James Lincoln Rockwell (Leader of US Nazi Party) were all assassinated after their interviews and Jack Ruby died of cancer.

Pat was one of the most unforgettable people I have ever met, or will ever, meet.

The first time I saw him, he was emerging from a service tunnel which ran behind the studios at CJOR. (This was a way of avoiding the people who gathered to bug him after he came off air.) He was covered in cobwebs and his first words to me where "Friggin place"!

(That was not the word used)

As time went by, the ratings soared, the sponsors begged for air time, Peter Kosick and Marie Chandler suspected that they'd created a monster and The Board of Broadcast Governors and some politicians began getting nervous. Then, as you know, it all ended in tears.

I still have the original Vancouver Sun (Vancouver Times actually) front page with coverage of Pat’s rally at The Queen Elizabeth Theatre. "I will return" he yelled, in the headlines. He didn't and the rest, as they say, is history.

Now he has finally found peace.