Former Western Producer editor Garry Fairbairn died April 27 in Calgary. He was 62.
Born in Arcola, Sask., Fairbairn served as this newspaper’s managing editor and then editor from 1983 to 1999.
He was the son of two journalists, one of them being former Western Producer managing editor Clarence Fairbairn, and became a journalist after obtaining degrees in political science and history, followed by a master’s degree at Carleton University.
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Fairbairn worked for Canadian Press throughout the 1970s, and covered both the October crisis of 1970 and the Trudeau era in Canada, among many other news events.
At the Producer, he is credited with early recognition of the potential of new technology in the newspaper industry.
Fairbairn saw the paper embrace computer pagination before most other newspapers in the world. He also foresaw the potential of websites and was an early adopter of communication technology.
The Producer had an online presence by August 1995, long before many other newspapers.
“He had a lot of technical skills in addition to his brain power,” said former executive editor Keith Dryden. “He took us into the computer age and did a lot of innovation in that area. He was a bright star in the journalist sky at the time.”
Former editor Elaine Shein also recalls Fairbairn’s interest in technology as applied to journalism and pagination.
“He was among the first to look at where we could go with digital photography, brought in the Mac computers and always made sure we were on top of technological advances for journalism,” said Shein.
Ken Zacharias, current publisher of the Producer, recalls Garry as a man of few words during labour negotiations, but a deep thinker and an incisive writer and journalist.
During Fairbairn’s tenure, he developed an editorial code of ethics that remains in use today. He also assisted in the newspaper’s expansion of the news bureau system and spearheaded its membership in various news and journalism organizations in Canada and the United States.
Fairbairn is survived by his brothers, Clare and Brett, by his children, Jordan, Jamie and Ashley, their mother, and his nieces and nephews.
Memories of Fairbairn and expressions of sympathy can be posted at http://garry-fairbairn.memory-of.com.
