Jurgen Gothe (April 4, 1944 – April 9, 2015) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

-born

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

radio broadcaster and print columnist. For 23 years, from 1985 to 2008, he was host of the national classical music program ''

DiscDrive :''This is an article on the radio show. For the computer storage device, see disk storage.'' ''DiscDrive'' was an afternoon show on CBC Radio 2 hosted by Jurgen Gothe."Gothe understands the magic of his medium". ''Broadcast Week'', August 15, 1 ...

'', which aired across Canada on CBC Radio 2."Former CBC Radio host Jurgen Gothe dead"

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca ...

, April 10, 2015.

Life and career

Gothe was born in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, where he was a child actor for ''

Rundfunk im amerikanischen Sektor RIAS (german: Rundfunk im amerikanischen Sektor; en, ''Radio in the American Sector'') was a radio and television station in the American Sector of Berlin during the Cold War. It was founded by the US occupational authorities after World War ...

'' before his family moved to Canada in 1954."Gothe understands the magic of his medium". ''Broadcast Week'', August 15, 1987. They settled in

Medicine Hat Medicine Hat is a city in southeast Alberta, Canada. It is located along the South Saskatchewan River. It is approximately east of Lethbridge and southeast of Calgary. This city and the adjacent Town of Redcliff to the northwest are with ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, where his father was a baker.Burns, John (2008)
"An unscripted Life"
. ''Vancouver Magazine''. Retrieved 11 April 2015 He dropped out of high school after Grade 10, and joined local radio station CHAT at age 15 as an advertising copywriter,"Radio show a winner in the afternoon". ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...

'', December 28, 1987. later moving to an on-air role as host of a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

show and writing for sister CBC television affiliate station

CHAT-TV CHAT-TV ( analogue channel 6) is a television station in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada, affiliated with Citytv. Owned by the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group, the station has studios at 10 Boundary Road SE in the nearby town of Redcliff, and its tra ...

. Moving to

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in the mid-1960s,"The Cat's Meow: How Jurgen Gothe's inspired nonsense enlivens CBC Radio's classical slot". ''

'', November 18, 1989. he worked for an advertising agency and for

CHQM-FM CHQM-FM (103.5 FM) is a Canadian radio station in Vancouver, British Columbia. It broadcasts with an effective radiated power of 100,000 watts from a transmitter on Mount Seymour and airs an adult contemporary format. It is western Canada's old ...

before rejoining the CBC, this time in

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

. He briefly hosted a weekend classical music program in 1984 before becoming host of ''DiscDrive'' in 1985. After ''DiscDrive'' was cancelled in 2008 as part of a format shift at Radio 2, Gothe continued with the CBC for one more year as host of the weekend classical music program ''Farrago'' until leaving the CBC in 2009."CBC Radio 2 tweaks schedule; Gothe goes, Bachman moves". ''

Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...

'', June 8, 2009. Throughout his radio career, Gothe was also a contributor of wine and food writing to various publications, a judge at wine and culinary competitions both in Canada and internationally, and ran his own corporate

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...

company, Quincy Gothe. Quincy, his nominal partner in the firm, was his pet cat. He wrote the "Uncorked" wine column for ''

The Georgia Straight ''The Georgia Straight'' is a free Canadian weekly news and entertainment newspaper published in Vancouver, British Columbia, by Overstory Media Group. Often known simply as ''The Straight'', it is delivered to newsboxes, post-secondary schools, ...

'' from 1997 to 2014. He announced his retirement as a columnist for ''The Georgia Straight'' in August 2014.

Personal life

He was married to photographer Kate Williams and they had one daughter Colette. They lived on

Mayne Island Mayne Island is a island in the southern Gulf Islands chain of British Columbia. It is midway between the Lower Mainland of BC and Vancouver Island, and has a population of 995. Mount Parke in the south-central heart of the island is its highe ...

until his deteriorating health forced him to enter a special care facility in Vancouver. Gothe was known as a ''bon vivant''. When she announced his death on April 10, his wife noted that he died during happy hour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gothe, Jurgen 1944 births 2015 deaths CBC Radio hosts Male actors from Berlin People from Medicine Hat German emigrants to Canada Classical music radio presenters Canadian food writers Canadian public relations people Canadian radio writers Canadian television writers Canadian magazine writers Wine writers German male child actors Canadian male television writers