The legendary reporter George Garrett discusses his new memoir George Garrett: Intrepid Reporter (Harbour Publishing, 2019), recounting his years as a reporter at CKNW and a lot more, with Joseph Planta.

George Garrett: Intrepid Reporter by George Garrett (Harbour Publishing, 2019). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Intrepid Reporter

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

This is George Garrett’s fifth appearance on the program. It was our mutual friend George Orr who said to me four years ago last month, you should talk to Garrett. I said, I admired and grew up listening to him, and Orr told me to contact him. A day or two later, I tweeted that I had just talked to George Garrett about setting up a time to meet, and that if somebody had told me that as a kid, I wouldn’t have believed it. Soon after George sat in front of me for a chat, as he does now, he emailed and said he was thinking of writing a memoir. And four years later that book is out. It’s aptly titled George Garrett: Intrepid Reporter. George wrote this book from memory from an illustrious career covering news in Vancouver and beyond. He was a good reporter, who broke stories big and small, who worked hard, and had the loyalty and trust of the listeners of radio station CKNW. For forty-three years, he was at the fore of a lot of history in this town, this province and this country. A lot of his work is recounted in this memoir that illustrates what it is to be a diligent reporter, one that has gained the confidence of the powerful and the powerless, the police and the politicians; and the ordinary citizens who were going through a rough time or tragedy, as well as the extraordinary people who make up the history of this place. The book also recounts Mr. Garrett’s humble childhood in Saskatchewan, his move westward, his family, his friends, and his life today, twenty years retired from radio, but busy as ever. Proceeds from this book will be donated to the Volunteer Cancer Drivers Society, such an important cause, of which George has been a tireless advocate of. There are already a couple of events for the book, first: Saturday, March 9th at the Black Bond Books in the Semiahmoo Shopping Mall in Surrey. That’ll start at 1.30pm. [Just added an event Tuesday, 12 March 2019 at 7.30pm at the Book Warehouse on Main Street in Vancouver.] And the following Saturday at the Black Bond Books in Maple Ridge, 1900 Haney Place. That is also at 1.30pm. There will be many other events so stay tuned for details on those. The book is from Harbour Publishing. I am not only proud to know George, but I’m very pleased this book is out now. Please welcome back to the Planta: On the Line program, George Garrett; Mr. Garrett, good morning.

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