TORONTO – CHUM Limited today issued a statement of its “profound sadness” at the death of Greenpeace co-founder and broadcaster Bob Hunter. He was 63.
Born in 1941 in Manitoba, Hunter was a driving force in altering “an entire generation's thinking about the earth, its endangered creatures and the responsibility we all share for preserving the environment he dedicated his life to protecting,” said the CHUM release.
With the launch of Greenpeace in 1971, Hunter became Canada's first eco-warrior, facing down the whalers and their harpoons and the seal hunters and their clubs. His years with Greenpeace also saw Hunter campaign world-wide against nuclear testing and the dumping of toxic wastes in our oceans. Time Magazine once declared him one of the eco-heroes of the twentieth century.
As a broadcaster, Hunter was perhaps best known most recently for his often acerbic tour of the daily newspapers in Toronto, a Breakfast Television segment called “Paper Cuts”. Dressed in his bathrobe with yellow highlighter in hand, Hunter would peruse the pages from paper to paper, pointing out what he thought important and taking witty digs whenever he could,
“Bob was an educator who believed that words are weapons on the environmental battlefield. A newspaper columnist and author of more than a dozen books, Bob brought his formidable intellect and uncompromising approach to our newsroom as our Ecology Specialist for 15 years. Bob's award-winning commentaries were models of wit, satire and biting analysis,” said the CHUM release.
“This was a man with a great loving heart, a brilliant mind and a massive spirit. Bob Hunter changed our world. It a sadder world today, but a better world because of him," added Stephen Hurlbut, vice-president, news programming Citytv and vice-president and general manager of CP24.
Hunter, who had prostate cancer, died surrounded by his wife, Bobbi and his children Will, Emily, Conan and Justine. Funeral arrangements have yet to be decided.
