Garry Fairbairn, former editor of this newspaper, was only 62 when he died April 27. It is a sadly short time on this earth for the talented journalist and multi-faceted man.
His many contributions to The Western Producer are described in greater detail on page 3. We continue to build on the foundations he laid.
Fairbairn worked for Canadian Press throughout the 1970s covering news in Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, Regina, Washington, D.C., and Calgary. He was a news junkie and policy wonk who always retained his interest in and dedication to accurate and ethical news reporting.
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His tribute page at http://Garry-Fairbairn.memory-of.com illustrates his many interests, but I knew him best in his Western Producer context. He had an open door policy and I, as news editor at the time, used it.
Once I had posed a question, Garry would lean back in his chair, put his hands behind his head and, if the question was particularly weighty, put his feet up on his desk.
A long pause would ensue. Then he’d come forth with a wry quip and a sensible answer. Problem solved.
Garry had a crooked smile and a laugh that was more of an infectious chuckle. His sense of humour got him, and the paper, through some rough spots.
As the author of a book about the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, which owned The Western Producer during Garry’s tenure, he was able to run interference between the owners and the newspaper’s goal of unbiased and straightforward reportage.
Many a management meeting was lightened by his wit, which was always clever and only occasionally naughty. As an example, we were one day discussing rumours, never substantiated, that wheat pool delegates had engaged the services of prostitutes during a celebratory function.
“I wonder what department would have handled that,” mused one manager, apparently weary of the pool’s multi-level bureaucracy.
“Member Relations,” said Garry, deadpan.
Challenges in his personal life eventually took Garry away from The Western Producer in 1999. But there are many here still who knew him and enjoyed working with him.
Around here, he will be remembered as a talented man, a dedicated journalist and a champion of this newspaper.
