So i have read 204 pages…..Dan gives you truly an inside the halls look at Corporate Radio and the politics and an unvarnished truth that you will never ever get to see again….You see that The Canucks tried to have him fired…they threatened him and he was a warrior….A warrior for the Fans….and the Fans knew it….Classic nickname of the GAS Man….for the President of the Canucks who came from a non hockey background….Dan called out the management….You see the details and you will never see this again……This is a phenomenal read….i work in the industry and am outside looking in….The Ad Agency side of the business…i knew these people and i know the truth Dan let you in on….Best read i have had in years!…..Congrats….he does belong in the BC Sports Hall of Fame for his Courage and determination….Good luck Dan
Okay i read 175 pages tonite….This book gives you a clear insight into the politics and business behind the scenes….The epic wars within the walls of the Radio stations…..I know almost all the players Dan had to deal with…i wonder if any of them have a clue how he and Woodgate could put together this epic package night after night….I salute you Danny….i will finish the book this weekend
Only at page 10 and i recall my own moment with Dan……I was driving Dan out to an advertiser for a meeting….and on the radio an announcement came on and Dan and i looked at each other shocked…..In those days AIDS was the signal of Death and we just did not know how to put the disease into a context like we do now……Magic Johnson was diagnosed with Aids…..Dans thinking …how am i going to deal with this on my Show….it’s a moment in my mine i remember many years later….But Dan always dealt with things in a thoughtful manner…..!
Hi Dan,
Long time listener, I think I called in once. I can’t remember the nature of my call about the Canucks but I seem to recall you disagreeing with me. Got your book for Christmas and just finished it. Thanks for the enjoyable read! I had to listen to the Sportstalk theme again on your website because I have lived in a Dallas suburb since 2001 so it was interesting to hear the backstory that it came from Texas. I have had DIRECTV to follow the Canucks since moving here and my loyalty is unfaded. Had to name drop a few that you mentioned in the book. I texted Elaine Scollan’s brother-in-law in White Rock who forwarded page 17 to her. Dr. Dave Harris, who worked for the Canucks when Babe Pratt passed, lived two doors down from us in Burnaby. His daughter was a very good friend of my sister’s so I remember hearing about his friendship with Harry Neale. And Squire Barnes was on the front row of our scrum on our junior high rugby team at Edmonds. I was a second row lock. We were coached by Merv Magus who used to do the cartoons in the Canucks programs in the 70s and 80s. Squire was not the only pipsqueak at Edmonds then (Charles Barkley Capitol One ad reference to Spike Lee with Gladys Knight on the Midnight Train to Georgia) as he and Mike Fox (better known as Michael J. now) were similar in height.
I aspired to go into broadcasting and did my Grade 10 work experience at CHQM on Burrard back when the FM was a wall of reel to reels and commercials were done on an 8 track and programming was done using a peg board. I mistakenly let the button off the time announcement that Maurice Foisy had for each minute of the 9-12 morning show so I don’t know that I was designed for live radio. My brother wrote “Making sounds that are like music. You’re listening to QM-FM 103.5 in Vancouver” but it never made it to air. It truly was what used to be “elevator music.” Later I met Jim Robson after a Canuck practice in my late teens and later wrote a page and a half of meticulous notes that I still have. His wife Bea was a good friend of one of my mom’s best friends. In the mid 90s, I took a non-credit class at BCIT taught by Doreen Copeland and Terry Chan who were at 96.9 KISS FM at the time. I didn’t have the speed to do play by play or read my newscast (didn’t have the benefit of a teleprompter then). The thing I enjoyed most was interviewing. Having read your book, I can see how much preparation you put in to the show to make it as successful as it was. I just enjoyed talking to people. Scripting and timing it is a real skill. Much like Barbara Walters who has being honoured recently, you weren’t afraid to discuss the uncomfortable. Congratulations on the entertaining read and for providing us an opportunity to learn more about sports and broadcasting! And laugh too!
Thank you so much for writing this memoir. Being able to read your book was like listening to your show all over again.
Your memories and the stories behind the stories represent a collection of the good, the bad, and sometimes the ugly that your readers think but don’t really know is part of the media business.
Weaving your stories of your family and, the loss of your parents was both heart warming and wrenching.
And finally, the stories of your interviews and the lengths you would go thru to provide us with your one of a kind show are impressive.
Thank you
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