Knowlton Nash

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Knowlton Nash

Cyril Knowlton Nash, O.C., O.Ont. (born November 18, 1927, Toronto, Ontario) was the former and long-serving senior anchor of CBC Television's flagship news program, The National.

As a 12-year old, Nash was a newspaper boy selling the Toronto Star and Toronto Telegram at the corner of Bathurst and Eglinton for three cents a copy.[1] Nash began his career working for The Globe and Mail in the 1940s before becoming an editor with British United Press in Canada. He moved to the United States where he worked as the information officer for the International Federation of Agricultural Producers. In the 1960s, he returned to journalism first as a freelance reporter and then as the CBC's Washington, D.C. correspondent and covered stories for the CBC such as the Cuban missile crisis and the assassination of John F. Kennedy. He also interviewed Che Guevera and was one of the last reporters to interview Robert F. Kennedy [2].

He joined the CBC's management as head of news and information programming in 1968, and became anchor of The National following the departure of Peter Kent in 1978. During his tenure, the program expanded from 15 minutes to the first segment of an hourlong news package with The National being followed by The Journal, which featured interviews and documentaries.

In 1988, Nash offered to retire from his duties at The National in order to keep Peter Mansbridge from accepting an offer to host the morning news at the American network CBS. Nash left his position as CBC News' senior anchor and chief correspondent in 1988, yet remains active in Canadian journalism circles. He hosted various programs on CBC Newsworld in the 1990s, and from 1990 to 2004 was host of the CBC's educational series "News in Review". Nash officially retired from the CBC on November 28, 1992 - his last official duty was anchoring The National[3]

In 1988, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Nash lives in Toronto with his wife, former CBC personality Lorraine Thomson, Thomson's daughter Francesca Mallin-Parker, her husband Fred Parker and their grandsons Jesse and Robert. Since his retirement he has written a number of books, including a history of the CBC.

In his late seventies, Nash is suffering from Parkinson's Disease which has affected his voice.[4]

On June 22, 2006, Nash accepted a lifetime achievement award from the Canadian Journalism Foundation [5]. He prepared a speech which was read by his wife, which included harsh words for the CBC, due to its planned simulcast of American network ABC's The One: Making a Music Star, which bumped The National back by one hour in Ontario and Quebec on Tuesday nights. The program flopped and was canceled after two weeks.

[edit] Bibliography

History on the Run: The Trenchcoat Memoirs of a Foreign Correspondent (McClelland and Stewart, 1984), ISBN 0-7710-6700-3
Times to Remember: A Canadian Photo Album (Key Porter Books, 1986), ISBN 1-55013-005-6
Prime Time at Ten: Behind-the-Camera Battles of Canadian TV Journalism (McClelland and Stewart, 1987)), ISBN 0-7710-6703-8
Kennedy and Diefenbaker: Fear and Loathing across the Undefended Border (McClelland and Stewart, 1990), ISBN 0-7710-6705-4
Visions of Canada: Searching for Our Future (McClelland and Stewart, 1991), ISBN 0-7710-6708-9
The Microphone Wars: A History of Triumph and Betrayal at the CBC (McClelland and Stewart, 1994), ISBN 0-7710-6712-7
Cue the Elephant!: Backstage Tales at the CBC (McClelland and Stewart, 1996), ISBN 0-7710-6734-8
Trivia Pursuit: How Showbiz Values are Corrupting the News (McClelland and Stewart, 1998), ISBN 0-7710-6752-6
Swashbucklers: The Story of Canada's Battling Broadcasters (McClelland and Stewart, 2001), ISBN 0-7710-6774-7