The Vinyl Cafe Fades to Black - Stuart McLean Dead at 68
My tablet pinged with a breaking headline as I was busy exploring through Steemit posts this afternoon preparing the Steemit Ramble. The headline announced the death of Stuart McLean.
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Stuart McLean had suspended his award winning series, The Vinyl Cafe, in December 2016 in order to focus on battling melanoma that he’d been diagnosed with. We’ve lost another great to cancer.
The Vinyl Cafe radio show and tour by Stuart McLean were stories he created and told about Dave, the owner of a second hand record shop called “The Vinyl Cafe”. The stories included life with his wife Morley, his children Sam and Stephanie and an assortment of friends and relatives.
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Down to earth, humourous and so true to life, the podcasts of the show were one of my favourites. I’m not big on listening to podcasts but I would take the time to hear The Vinyl Cafe.
The stories have also been published in book form but for me, there was nothing like the Stuart McLean bringing his characters to life through the sound of his voice and the inflection he gave the words he’d created.
About Stuart McLean
Born in Montreal on April 19, 1948 to parents who had immigrated to Canada from Australia. Raised and educated in Montreal, he graduated from Sir George Williams University in 1971. By 1974 he had moved to Toronto, Ontario and become a teacher at Ryerson Polytechnical School which later became Ryerson University. He retired as a professor of broadcast journalism in 2005.
He was hired at CBC Radio, Canada’s national broadcaster, in 1978. From 1978 to 1982 he produced documentaries for Sunday Morning. He became the executive producer of the show in 1982.
During the 80’s and 90’s he was a frequent guest and sometimes host of Morningside with Peter Gzowski, another of Canada’s well known radio personalities.
In July 1982 he married Linda Read. They had three sons before separating. McLean was intensely private about his family and their life.
In 1994 McLean created a summer replacement show called The Vinyl Cafe. By 1997 the show was running every Sunday at noon. For 22 years, there was a new story about Dave and the family produced every week. As a listener, you laughed, oh did we laugh. Sometimes we’d cry and almost all the time we’d nod in understanding of the challenges and foibles of life that Dave and the family had to work through.
McLean wrote several books, both serious and humourous. He took The Vinyl Cafe on the road, visiting communities across Canada and the United States.
He received several awards and recognition for his work including winning the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour three times. Stephen Leacock was a Canadian who between 1915 and 1925 was the best known English-speaking humourist in the world.
SourceIn 2011 Stuart McLean became an officer in the Order of Canada, one of the highest Canadian awards. It was presented by Governor General David Johnson for “his contributions to Canadian culture as a storyteller and broadcaster, as well as for his many charitable activities"
I’ll close this by sharing a YouTube of one of McLean’s stories:
Warning: You may become hooked.
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@shadowspud I see this story everywhere but was not familiar with who he was. I am more aware now, thanks to your great post!
RIP Mr. McLean and it sounds like people will celebrate his life for a while to come
yes, great storytellers are few and far between .. glad my post helped you to appreciate who he was.
Oh! NOO!!
The Vinyl Cafe was great.
yeah I absolutely loved listening to it.
So sad to hear. Vinyl Cafe is one of my favorites. Got hooked on Dave and family a couple years ago after hearing a Thanksgiving turkey episode. Laughed so hard I cried. He obviously made a lasting impression on folks.
He will be greatly missed. Rest well, Stuart.
He sure will be... storytellers like him are hard to come across.
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