It didn’t take radio and television broadcaster Bill Good long to figure out what he wanted to do with his life. Fresh out of high school, he sent his first audition tape to the CBC, which landed him a summer gig with Prince Rupert radio station CFPR.
“When that job ended in the fall,” Bill recalls, “I was hired by a new private Prince Rupert station, CHTK, where I spent a year doing everything from covering local city council meetings to reading news, playing records (yes, we played records then!), and play-by-play announcing on local basketball.”
But really, it was Bill Good Sr., a prominent sports broadcaster, who influenced Bill’s life-career decision.
“I admired my father a great deal. Looking back, I realize how much he influenced me without even trying,” says Bill. “Watching him enjoy his life so much influenced my desire to go into broadcasting. It was learning by watching. He was in the forefront of multi-media performers and worked for several radio stations at the same time.”
“My father also had a great work ethic and preached the importance of homework,” Bill continues. “Doing your homework was something my dad talked about a great deal, and I tried to always do mine – still do. I wasn’t much of a student in school; looking back, I think I was generally bored. But with my love of broadcasting and news, I became a very serious researcher. I devoured newspapers and radio and television shows and tried to read every book of every author that I interviewed.”
After a year at the Prince Rupert radio station, Bill took a job in the newsroom at C-FAX in Victoria, where he spent a year before joining CBC in Vancouver in 1967 to host the morning show.
“I also hosted a music show – there’s a video on YouTube to prove it,” laughs Bill, “where I interviewed a lot of the stars of the day, including the Everly Brothers, Chubby Checker, Fats Domino and Haley and His Comets.”
Then Bill was “conscripted” into the sports department. “I say that I was ‘conscripted’, because I had no intention of doing sports,” says Bill. “Because my father had a high profile in sports broadcasting, I wanted to carve my own path. But that said, my 10 years doing sports were some of the best years of my life.”
When the Vancouver Canucks entered the NHL in 1970, Bill was chosen to host Hockey Night in Canada in BC. This was an exciting time for him. He covered his first Olympics, the 1972 winter games in Sapporo, Japan and later the 1974 Olympics in Montreal.
“In Sapporo, Canada’s only medal was a silver in figure skating by North Vancouver’s Karen Magnussen,” recalls Bill. “We’ve come a long way in Olympic and Paralympic performances since then. Experiencing the 2010 games in Vancouver was incredible, to see Canada as a dominating winter games country.”
Most exciting for Bill was when he co-anchored the 1972 Summit Series between Canada and what was then known as the Soviet Union, a series still talked about when the annual anniversary comes around in September.
“Going to Moscow was the first international experience I had,” he says, “and it was a real eye opener for a young broadcaster. I roomed for 10 days at the Intourist Hotel in Moscow with Howie Meeker, who was a big star then… It was my first experience in a communist society with a public under constant state scrutiny. It truly reinforced my love and appreciation for life in Canada.”
Of course, in the world of television, over the years, Bill has had a lot of contact with famous personalities. For example, he co-hosted national ski events for 10 years with Olympic athlete Nancy Greene. He also interviewed hockey greats, like Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, Gordie Howe, Wayne Gretzky and Bobby Hull.
“One of my all-time favourite hockey people was Pat Quinn,” says Bill, “whom I first met when he joined the Canucks as a player, before he went on to coach, manage and run the organization as a president.”
Bill interviewed famous political figures, as well, and has a particularly strong memory of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s death.
“I was listening to CBC Radio and they announced they would play an interview I’d done with him. I felt intimidated by him for a second time – the first was when I did the interview. He was the first prime minister I had ever interviewed, and he was an intimidating character. Even the great Jack Webster admitted to being intimidated by Mr. Trudeau. He held the media in disdain and never strived to be liked by anyone in the business. He tested any interviewer – although I must say, when I listened to that interview, I felt I’d done just fine.”
Nowhere is the phrase “the show must go on” more pertinent than in the world of live broadcasting, and this takes on a whole new meaning when Bill describes an experience from his years of co-anchoring the CBC Evening News with Cecilia Walters.
“One night during the broadcast, a fire broke out in the CBC building and all the lights went. While the building was being evacuated, we carried on, in candlelight for a time, until the fire was quelled, and the lights returned. That was pretty funny in hindsight!”
This ability to roll with the unexpected was the reason Bill moved from CBC television back to radio in 1988.
“Many people were surprised at my decision, but I’d grown up listening to Jack Webster and CKNW and loved talk radio,” he says. “I’d spent a lot of time in unscripted broadcasting and had a knack for ad-libbing, speaking off the cuff and being able to relate to a lot of information without scripts. I loved taking calls and talking about all kinds of issues every day with listeners.”
Jack Webster was a big influence on Bill and one of his biggest supporters in Bill’s early days in talk radio.
“He was a man I admired and got to know well. I don’t think there ever was, or ever will be, another like him. He was a brilliant reporter with a steel-trap mind, a great interviewer and had a unique knack for being entertaining when it was required.”
Broadcasters Peter Jennings and Ted Koppel and business magnate Jim Pattison were also an inspiration to Bill, although he never believed in trying to copy any of them.
“I always believed you have to be yourself in this business, but you can learn from many people,” he says.
Then in the early ’90s, Bill’s old radio boss moved on to television with BCTV and offered Bill a chance to return to television with a national program, Canada Tonight.
“That allowed me to really live my dream,” says Bill. “Radio in the morning and television in the evening. That eventually led to the opportunity to co-anchor the CTV Evening News with Pamela Martin and continue my radio show on CKNW. Those were another marvelous 10 years. Issues that got only 90 seconds on TV could be expanded on for half an hour or more in my morning radio show. What could be better?”
When Bill retired from CTV, he continued his radio career at CKNW for five more years before retiring from that at age 70. He thought he was finally ready to let go of his career.
“I decided I wanted to spend more time with my wife, Georgy, and enjoy our home on the Sunshine Coast,” he says. “But not long after, Rogers Radio contacted me and asked if I’d be interested in doing a daily editorial on News 1130, which I could do from my home, and I said ‘yes.’ It’s allowed me to stay connected and still be involved in the news business.”
Minute with Bill Good runs eight times a day and he can do it from anywhere he has access to WiFi. Over the years, Bill and Georgy have been guest hosts for Great Expeditions travel company, and more recently for Collette Travel and CruisePlus.
“We did a Panama trip with CruisePlus and, in November, we took a group to Egypt for Collette Travel,” he says. “A few years ago, we did a fabulous trip to Croatia, which also took us to Bosnia and Herzegovina. We’ve visited more than 60 countries over the years and consider travel a part of our continuing education. It’s allowed us to meet many, many wonderful people, lots of whom are still friends.”
“I feel I’ve been very fortunate in being able to travel the world,” Bill continues. “I don’t understand people who don’t have any desire to travel. I can’t imagine, for example, not having experienced the Soviet Union, and then going back years later and seeing the evolution into Russia and the transformation of that country.”
Another job Bill recently took on is the role of spokesperson for Capital Direct Lending Corp., a job he says pays the way for him to continue doing his daily News 1130 editorials.
Bill has no plans to stop working entirely.
“My only plan is to continue to do what people want me to do,” he says. “I have never planned ahead, but I do look ahead and take up what interests me that comes my way. I hate the term ‘bucket list’ – I’m not sure why. It was a funny movie, but I just look at what comes along and decide whether or not I’m interested.”
If you were to meet your 20-year-old self, what advice would you give him?
“Always do your best. Never strive to be average or just do what needs to be done. I’ve never understood how “elite” became a pejorative in our world. Who gets up in the morning and says, ‘I just want to be average?’”
What or who has influenced you the most and why?
“My dad, Jack Webster, Peter Jennings and Ted Koppel. Each was unique and had big personalities. Each made a big mark in the work they did, and they were all very much admired by their peers.”
What are you most grateful for?
“The love of my life, Georgy, our three adult children, and four healthy, happy grandchildren. I’ve been blessed.”
What does success mean to you?
Being the best you can be, treating others the best you can, and trying to do what you can to make your community a better place to live.”
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