Peter Hullett Desbarats, OC (July 2, 1933 – February 11, 2014) was a Canadian author, playwright and journalist."Former journalist, author Peter Desbarats dies"
. ''

The Gazette The Gazette (stylized as the GazettE), formerly known as , is a Japanese visual kei Rock music, rock band, formed in Kanagawa Prefecture, Kanagawa in early 2002.''Shoxx'' Vol 106 June 2007 pg 40-45 The band is currently signed to Sony Music Recor ...

'', February 11, 2014. He was also the dean of journalism at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

(1981–1997), a former commissioner in the Somalia Inquiry and a former Maclean-Hunter chair of Communications Ethics at

Ryerson University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public university, public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Garden District, although i ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. Until his death from Alzheimer's disease,"Former dean of journalism at Western University started as a copy boy and carved out a distinguished career in print and broadcasting"
''

London Free Press ''The London Free Press'' is a daily newspaper based in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. It has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Southwestern Ontario. History ''The London Free Press'' began as the ''Canadian Free Press'', ...

'', February 12, 2014. he lived in a heritage home with his actress wife Hazel in the East Woodfield Heritage Conservation District in

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...

Early life

Peter Desbarats was born in 1933 to Hullett Desbarats (a descendant of the printer and publisher

George-Édouard Desbarats George-Édouard-Amable Desbarats (5 April 1838 – 18 February 1893) was an influential Canadian printer and inventor. Life and career The Desbarats were an established printing family. The first of the family to settle was Joseph Desbarats f ...

) and Margaret Rettie. The family lived on Connaught Avenue in the

Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Notre-Dame-de-Grâce ( en, Our Lady of Grace), also nicknamed NDG, is a residential neighbourhood of Montreal in the city's West End, with a population of 166,520 (2016). An independent municipality until annexed by the City of Montreal in 1910, ...

neighbourhood of

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, where Peter attended Loyola High School.

Career

Before he was appointed dean of UWO's journalism school, which he successfully fought to save in the 1990s when UWO wanted to discontinue the program, he worked as a print and television journalist for 30 years,"Former Global News anchor Peter Desbarats remembered as ‘first-class journalist’"

Global News Global News is the news and current affairs division of the Canadian Global Television Network. The network is owned by Corus Entertainment, which oversees all of the network's national news programming as well as local news on its 21 owned-and ...

, February 12, 2014. starting as a copy boy with the

Canadian Press The Canadian Press (CP; french: La Presse canadienne, ) is a Canadian national news agency headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Established in 1917 as a vehicle for the time's Canadian newspapers to exchange news and information, The Canadian Pre ...

, Canada's national news co-operative, in his home town of Montreal. Desbarats worked in London's

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was na ...

for

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

news agency, as a political reporter and foreign correspondent for the ''

Montreal Star ''The Montreal Star'' was an English-language Canadian newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It closed in 1979 in the wake of an eight-month pressmen's strike. It was Canada's largest newspaper until the 1950s and remained the dominan ...

'' and as national affairs columnist for the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

''. In the 1960s and early 1970s he hosted the supper-hour news and current affairs show on Montreal television station CBMT, and in the 1970s was co-anchor and

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

Bureau Chief for the

Global Television Network The Global Television Network (more commonly called Global, or occasionally Global TV) is a Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. It is currently Canada's second most-watched private terrestrial television network after ...

, winning the 1977

ACTRA Award The ACTRA Awards were first presented in 1972 to celebrate excellence in Canada's television and radio industries.

for best news broadcaster. Desbarats wrote 13 books, including ''René: A Canadian in Search of Country'', a best-selling biography of René Lévesque; ''Somalia Cover-Up: A Commissioner's Journal'', a book about his stint on the Somalia Inquiry;, and ''Guide to Canadian News Media'', a standard journalism text; as well as several children's books "L'ancien journaliste et auteur Peter Desbarats est décédé à l'âge de 80 ans"
''

Le Devoir ''Le Devoir'' (, "Duty") is a French-language newspaper published in Montreal and distributed in Quebec and throughout Canada. It was founded by journalist and politician Henri Bourassa in 1910. ''Le Devoir'' is one of few independent large-c ...

'', February 12, 2014. and a 2002 stage play, ''Her Worship'', about controversial London mayor

Dianne Haskett Dianne Louise Haskett (born March 4, 1955) is a Canadian lawyer, politician, and diplomat who served as the mayor of London, Ontario, Canada, serving from 1994 to 2000, and later ran unsuccessfully as the Conservative candidate in the 2006 feder ...

. With the cartoonist

Aislin Christopher Terry Mosher, (born 11 November 1942) is a Canadian political cartoonist for the ''Montreal Gazette''. He draws under the name Aislin, a rendition of the name of his eldest daughter Aislinn (without the second 'n'). Aislin's drawing ...

, he co-wrote one of the first books of comics history in Canada, ''The Hecklers: A History of Canadian Political Cartooning and a Cartoonists' History of Canada''. He was later a contributor to ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', the ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the '' ...

'' and ''

The London Free Press ''The London Free Press'' is a daily newspaper based in London, Ontario, Canada. It has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Southwestern Ontario. History ''The London Free Press'' began as the ''Canadian Free Press'', founded by Willia ...

'', as well as an active community volunteer in London. In 2006, he was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Desbarats, Peter 1933 births 2014 deaths 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Canadian children's writers Canadian columnists Canadian television news anchors French Quebecers Journalists from Montreal Officers of the Order of Canada University of Western Ontario alumni Writers from London, Ontario Writers from Montreal Global Television Network people Neurological disease deaths in Ontario Deaths from Alzheimer's disease University of Western Ontario faculty Toronto Metropolitan University faculty Canadian male dramatists and playwrights Canadian male non-fiction writers Comics critics 20th-century Canadian journalists 21st-century Canadian journalists 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian male writers