John Honderich, former publisher of the Toronto Star, dead at 75
CBC
Known for his trademark bow ties and imposing six-foot-two presence, John Allen Honderich was an old-fashioned newspaperman with ink in his veins and a hearty lust for life.
The Canadian businessman, who was the publisher of the Toronto Star from 1994 to 2004, has died.
Honderich passed away in his Toronto home at age 75 on Saturday, Star spokesperson Bob Hepburn said.
Honderich, whose father was the late Beland Honderich, also a former Star publisher, was part of the Canadian newspaper industry from birth, and much of his working life revolved around the newspaper founded in 1892 and — until recently — partly owned by his family.
He accepted his role as a senior statesman and spokesperson for the industry, defending it and demanding support from government and rivals alike.
"Canada is facing a crisis of quality journalism," he wrote in a January 2018 editorial demanding the federal government act on recommendations in the Public Policy Forum's "The Shattered Mirror" media report released in early 2017.
"If you believe, as I do, that a vigorous, investigative press is essential for a strong democracy, we should all be very concerned."
Hepburn, also a columnist at the Star and who counted himself a friend of Honderich's, said they met in the 1980s when they were both working at the paper.
"He loved newspapers. He loved the Toronto Star and the industry as well," Hepburn said in a phone interview late Saturday.
Most recently, Hepburn said, Honderich had completed writing a book about the Star, which was in the editing stage.
Hepburn noted Honderich funded a number of journalism scholarships. He said he will be remembered in Toronto as a city builder.
Nationally, he said, Honderich will be remembered as someone who cared deeply about Canada and democracy.
In part to avoid accusations of nepotism, Honderich started his newspaper career as a copy boy with the Ottawa Citizen in 1973.
He joined the Star in 1976 as a reporter, eventually becoming chief of the Star's Ottawa and Washington bureaus. After serving as deputy editor, he was appointed business editor in May 1984.
