TORONTO – Veteran CBC broadcaster Knowlton Nash passed away Saturday night at the age of 86 after being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease more than a decade ago.
Best known as the long-time anchor of The National, Nash spent 37 years at the public broadcaster. CBC's chief correspondent Peter Mansbridge followed in Nash's footsteps, assuming the anchor role for The National back in 1992.
"Knowlton was unquestionably a giant of Canadian journalism but he was so much more to so many”, Mansbridge said in a statement issued by CBC. “To his colleagues he was a true friend and a valued mentor, and to Canadians he was family – he was their ‘Uncle Knowlton’. He did it all – a correspondent through a turbulent decade of the sixties, a manager as television news came of age, and an anchor when the CBC launched its flagship hour. He made all of us proud to be a part of his team."
CBC described Nash as “a pioneer in the industry who inspired a generation of journalists to aspire to the high standards he set for himself”.
"While I never knew Knowlton personally, Iike most Canadians, I certainly knew him as the anchor of The National”, added Heather Conway, CBC's executive vice-president for English Services. “He had a remarkable career and we are deeply indebted for the contributions he made to CBC and the industry at large; what a legacy he leaves behind. On behalf of the entire CBC family, I extend our deepest sympathies to Knowlton's family for their loss."
Nash will be laid to rest Wednesday afternoon at Grace Church on the Hill in Toronto.
– Lesley Hunter
