| Notes |
- TELEVISION SERIES
1960-64 Inquiry (expert on American views) 1966-67 This Week (host) 1978-88 The National (newsreader) 1976-88 CTV National News 1988- News in Review 1988- Witness
PUBLICATIONS
History on the Run: The Trenchcoat Memoirs of a Foreign Correspondent. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1984.
Times to Remember. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1986.
Prime Time at Ten: Behind the Camera Battles of Canadian TV Journalism. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1987.
Kennedy and Diefenbaker: Fear and Loathing Across the Undefended Border. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1990.
Visions of Canada. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1991.
Knowlton Nash's The Microphone Wars. (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1994)
NASH, KNOWLTON
Canadian Broadcast Journalist
One of the most recognizable personalities in Canadian television, Knowlton Nash inhabits a truly unique space in news and public affairs broadcasting. Nash began his career in journalism at an early age working in the late 1940s as a copy editor for the wire service British United Press. In three short years Nash worked in Toronto, Halifax and later Vancouver, where he assumed the position of writer and bureau chief for the wire service. Soon thereafter Nash and his young family moved to Washington where after a few years working for the International Federation of Agricultural producers he began writing regular copy for the Windsor Star, Financial Post, and Vancouver Sun.
By 1958 Nash had become a regular correspondent for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's (CBC) Washington bureau, where in years to come he would interview key heads of state, including a succession of American presidents. For Canadians Nash became a familiar face abroad during the heady days of the Cuban missile crisis, the war in Vietnam and the assassinations of the Kennedy brothers. Nash's international reports in many respects symbolized the growth and reach of the CBC's news departments over the globe.
In the early 1970s Nash accepted an appointment by the CBC as head of news and information programming. For many Canadians, however, Nash is universally recognized and respected for his work as anchor for the CBC's evening news program The National. In 1978 Nash played a pivotal role in transforming The National into a ratings success for Canada's public broadcaster. Four years later Nash and The National solidified its place in the nation's daily routine when--against all traditions--it moved to the 10:00 P.M. time slot and added an additional half-hour news analysis segment entitled The Journal.
In April of 1988, after ten years as anchor, Nash retired from The National. Benefiting from his unmatched wealth of experience in Canadian television journalism Nash has taken on a number of projects since his so-called retirement. He periodically anchors the Friday and Saturday broadcasts of The National as well as the Sunday evening news program Sunday Report. Furthermore, Nash anchors both the CBC educational series News in Review and the highly acclaimed weekly documentary series Witness. On top of his duties in the field of electronic broadcasting and journalism, Knowlton Nash has written a number of books, some quite controversial, on the history of broadcasting at the CBC.
-Greg Elmer
http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/N/htmlN/nashknowlto/nashknowlto.htm
Nash, Knowlton (1927- )
Born in Toronto on November 18th 1927, Knowlton Nash first got into the news business during World War II as a paperboy when he was only ten. He later became a part-time sports reporter for the Globe and Mail, until joining British United Press in 1947, for whom he served as Bureau Manager in Halifax, Vancouver and Toronto. In 1951 he went to Washington D.C. as Director of Information for the International Federation of Agricultural Producers, a job which gave him his first real taste of international travel, taking him frequently to Paris, Rome, London, New York, Africa and Latin America. He also represented the organization at the United Nations.
In 1956, Knowlton began freelance reporting from Washington for the CBC, as well as for the Financial Post, Maclean's Magazine, and daily newspapers in Vancouver, Windsor and Halifax. He also hosted the CBC program "Newsmagazine", and numerous radio and TV news specials. In this capacity he travelled on assignment to all corners of the world, and then and in the ensuing years he interviewed five U.S. Presidents, and seven Canadian and four British Prime Ministers.
Knowlton was appointed Washington correspondent for the CBC in 1961. During his time in Washington, Knowlton was President of the Canadian Correspondents' Association, and of the CBC Foreign Correspondents' Association.
In 1969 he returned from Washington to Toronto, where he became Director of Information Programming for CBC Radio and Television, and in the mid-Seventies be became CBC's Director of Television News and Current Affairs. He held this position until 1978, when he was appointed Chief Correspondent and Anchor of the National. He retired from daily television news broadcasting at the end of November 1992.
In 1989 Knowlton was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada, and in 1998 he was made a Member of the Order of Ontario. In 1990 he was honoured with the President's Award of the Radio and Television News Directors' Association (RTNDA), and in 1995 he received the John Drainie Award "for distinguished contributions to broadcasting", and was named to the Canadian News Hall of Fame in 1996.
He was given Honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from University of Toronto (1993), Brock (1995), University of Regina (1996), and Loyalist College (1997). He was the Max Bell Professor at the University of Regina School of Journalism in 1992. He was Founding Chairman of the Canadian Journalism Foundation, Honorary Chairman of the Canadian Organisation for Development through Education, and Honorary Chairman of the Toronto Arts Foundation, and served as a member of the board of the Gordon Sinclair Foundation.
Knowlton authored several books - "The Swashbucklers - The Story of Canada's Battling Broadcasters", published in 2001, "History on the Run" (1984), "Times to Remember" (1986), "Prime Time at Ten" (1987), "Kennedy and Diefenbaker" (1990), "Visions of Canada" (1991), "The Microphone Wars" (1994), "Cue the Elephant" (1996) and "Trivia Pursuit" (1998).
Knowlton lives in Toronto and Naples, Florida, with his wife Lorraine Thomson.
Pip Wedge - April, 2002 http://www.rcc.ryerson.ca/ccf/personal/hof/nash_k.html
I'm Knowlton Nash: The Life and Times of Knowlton Nash
He sold his first newspaper at the age of eight, and never looked back. From Cold War Washington through the battlefields of Vietnam and into millions of Canadian homes each night, Knowlton Nash has had a window seat on the major stories of the past 50 years. I'm Knowlton Nash, charts Nash's singular path through the world of Canadian journalism.
The documentary, which includes interviews with Nash's colleagues Peter Mansbridge, Trina McQueen and Morley Safer, is a rare look at the man behind those famous glasses, a man who carefully guards his privacy. According to family and colleagues, Nash always put the story first. The journalist admits he has only recently learned to put his personal life ahead of his career, as a result of his fourth marriage to Lorraine Thomson.
Nash began his career in journalism covering Canada for the British United Press wire service - writing more than 4,000 articles. After a stint with CBC Radio in Washington, Nash jumped to the new medium of television and, before long, joined a select group of CBC foreign correspondents, reporting from hot spots around the globe and establishing the reputation of CBC Television News as among the world's best news services. Nash was one of the last people to interview Bobby Kennedy before his assassination in 1968, and tracked down Che Guevera in the cane fields of Cuba for an exclusive interview.
Nash has always been fascinated with power and politics, and indeed harboured political ambitions of his own. He moved into management at CBC, overseeing the expansion of CBC News and Current Affairs. In 1979, Nash raised eyebrows when he suggested himself for the anchor position at The National. It was an awkward fit at first, but soon Nash's reassuring presence and signature "Good Night" became a familiar sight on our television sets.
Nash left the anchor chair in 1992, stepping aside so CBC could offer the top job to Peter Mansbridge, who was considering an offer from CBS in New York. Even in his "retirement," Nash continues to work. He hosts the CBC documentary series Witness and has just completed his ninth book, Swashbucklers, a history of private broadcasting in Canada.
Original Air Date - October 16, 2001
http://www.cbc.ca/lifeandtimes/nash.html
Knowlton Nash Honoured by CODE With First-Ever Directors' Award for Literacy Promotion
Canadian Organization for Development through Education
JUNE 6, 2002 - 20:01 EDT TORONTO, ONTARIO--Canadian broadcasting icon Knowlton Nash was chosen tonight as the inaugural recipient of the Directors' Award for Literacy Promotion by the Canadian Organization for Development through Education (CODE).
Mr. Nash, surprised with the award while serving in his capacity as Honorary Chair at a CODE event, has been donating time and energy to CODE for nearly two decades. Board Chair Richard M. Evans said the directors felt recognition was long overdue. "When we needed support, you were there," said Mr. Evans in a moving tribute to the long-time CODE volunteer and patron.
"When we needed a voice, you were there. And when we needed guidance, you were always free with your time and your counsel, helping us make literacy a part of people's thoughts in Canada." Mr. Evans said the Directors' Award will be given to deserving candidates who match Mr. Nash's contributions to CODE, but - he confessed - "we've set the bar rather high by starting with you, Knowlton."
About CODE CODE is a not-for-profit organization that has been promoting education and literacy in the developing world for more than 40 years. CODE builds the bridge of literacy by developing partnerships that provide resources for learning, promote awareness and understanding, and encourage self-reliance.
CODE received the Government of Canada Literacy Innovation Award, the Jennie Mitchell "Celebrate Literacy" Award from the Ontario and International Reading Associations, and the International Prize for Literacy from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
http://www.nald.ca/WHATNEW/hnews/2002/knowlton.htm
HONO
DATE 1988
PLAC Order of Canada
DATE 1995
PLAC John Drainie Award
- (Medical):Nash was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2002 but remained sanguine about the diagnosis, saying that many other people faced much greater challenges. "I can argue that I can get a couple of extra strokes in my golf game," he told the Toronto Star in 2006
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1927 - 2014 (86 years)
