Royal Orr

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Royal Orr is a Canadian former radio host, best known as the host of CBC Radio's Cross Country Checkup from 1992 to 1994. [1]

Originally a reporter for the network's bureau in Quebec City [2] and an activist with the anglophone Quebecer lobby group Alliance Quebec, he became the organization's president in 1987. [3] In 1988, he sued Le Journal de Montréal and Télé-Métropole for libel, when both organizations falsely reported that he was the "prime suspect" after the organization's offices were destroyed by arson. [4] The lawsuit was eventually settled out of court. [5]

He left Alliance Quebec in 1989 to become a host for Montreal commercial radio station CJAD, [6] remaining with that station until joining public broadcaster CBC's Cross Country Checkup in 1992. [2] He transitioned from Checkup in 1994 to become host of Daybreak, the local morning program on the network's Montreal station CBM. [7] He left the show in 1996, [8] attributing his decision to the fact that as a resident of Hatley, the job required him to either get up at 2:30 a.m. or stay in Montreal away from his family for most of the week. [9]

He then became host of Spirit Connection, a documentary series about faith and spirituality produced by the United Church of Canada for VisionTV. [10] At WorldFest-Houston in 2004, he won awards for two Spirit Connection documentaries, "All My Friends Just Fade" and "God's People, Among All God's People". [11]

He received the Sheila and Victor Goldbloom Distinguished Community Service Award from the Quebec Community Groups Network in 2015. [12]

References

  1. "CBC hires host for Checkup". The Globe and Mail , December 21, 1992.
  2. 1 2 "Orr leaving CJAD to be Checkup host". Montreal Gazette , November 17, 1992.
  3. "Anglophones want accord postponed for public discussion". The Globe and Mail , June 1, 1987.
  4. "Candidate faces tough job". Stanstead Journal. August 23, 1989. p. 2. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
  5. Garth Stevenson (1999). Community Besieged: The Anglophone Minority and the Politics of Quebec . McGill-Queen's University Press. p.  203. ISBN   9780773518391 . Retrieved August 18, 2017 via Internet Archive.
  6. "Anglophone leader lands job in radio". Vancouver Sun , February 10, 1989.
  7. "Royal Orr dons Daybreak crown; CBM morning man is lively, bright, enthusiastic on Day 1". Montreal Gazette , February 1, 1994.
  8. "Daybreak will be by committee; Orr begins last week with no replacement in sight". Montreal Gazette , February 25, 1996.
  9. "Maintaining a Connection: Royal Orr still finds inspiration as host of series on faith channel Vision TV". Montreal Gazette , June 14, 2001.
  10. "Montrealers can't catch Orr's new gig: Local broadcaster is host of Vision TV show but that network got lost in cable shuffle". Montreal Gazette , September 13, 1997.
  11. "United Church's Real "Reality" Television Show Wins Major Awards at WorldFest-Houston". Canada NewsWire , April 27, 2004.
  12. Irwin Block, "Activist, broadcaster Royal Orr wins Goldbloom Award". The Senior Times, November 12, 2015.