[mplpost] Au Revoir, 'SIR' (Goodbye, Peter)

[Mark Smith]

Peter Gzowksi passed away this afternoon.  CBC called me two days ago with a
heads-up, because they were prepping a tribute 'just in case'.  When they
called back this afternoon, I knew what they were going to say... but I sure
didn't want to hear it.

I did a byte for the National (TV) this afternoon and will do a special
thing on CBC Yukon (radio) at 0745 tomorrow, which I'm working on now.  At
first I thought, "Aw, leave me alone!" but when,later today,I saw his VERY
closest friends just 'close ranks and get on with it' -- Shelagh Rogers, Rex
Murphy -- I thought then, "Who the Hell am I to remember him unto myself?!".

I certainly would never dare call myself 'a friend' of Peter Gzowski.  Yet,
I had the good fortune in my life to meet and spend quality time with him on
a number of occasions.  At every turn, he had a direct and profound effect
on how I looked at things.  I would have been privileged to really think he
absorbed and retained ANYthing of what I said -- yet the beauty of PG is,
that he probably DID.  And if he didn`t, you still thought he did.

The man who asked the questions of a person that all Canadians wanted
answered -- not sensational, not confrontative, just intensely curious.

His employees always referred to him simply as 'SIR' -- not Peter, not
Mister Gee, just SIR.  "I'll have to check with SIR"; "SIR, here is the
backgrounder you asked for".  I kind of think of him as Mister Canada.
Canada's EveryMan with an incredible brain on top.

Still not sure if there is a real Hereafter... but when I think of things to
ease my sadness at SIR's passing -- I could speculate that there is one HELL
of a party going on tonight, hosted on high by Peter Gzowski and Mordecai
Richler.  Ya gotta laugh at the thought!

In all the tributes, what disturbed me most was the lack of reference to
perhaps the greatest gift Peter Gzowksi made to his country -- to all of
us -- which was literacy.  (Sorry -- late-night NewsWorld is finally talking
about literacy.) A zillion years ago (1986), Sir made a personal commitment
to try and raise a million dollars for literacy.

Sixteen years later, the total stands at over SIX million dollars.  More
than 40% of all Canadians simply do not possess the skills to read and write
beyond a Grade Eight level.  By cmparison, in Cuba -- the place we all love
to pity -- the literacy rate is 96%.

I met SIR through literacy, in 1992 -- the first year we had the PGI's
(Peter Gzowski Invitational Golf Tournaments for Literacy) in the Yukon.
Since then these tournaments have raised about $300,000, in one little piece
of Canada.  More than that, though, is the legacy he lent to raising the
level of awareness.  And it has worked like this all across the 'country'.
.

SIR is one of the reasons we are a Nation, not just a country. We've lost
Mister Canada to legend.  It may be just a while until his replacement shows
themself. And a big sideline of that was, his Ground Rules stated that there
must always also be music.  That had a direct benefit to Yukon musicians, as
well as to musicians across the land.

Peter always enjoyed a good joke.  I'll remember him for that because of our
conversations over literacy, AND politics, AND geography (he was the most
curious person I ever met or listened to!).  Then came the wicked grin -- be
it Calgary or at the Briars -- before he inserted the lance.  Overall, I
have always been pleased with a sense that I came out relatively
unscathed -- until he chose to croak on MY BIRTHDAY.  That is wicked
repartée at his best.

As a personal legacy, it was Peter's article -- his essay in the Globe and
Mail -- that gave me the final impetus to quit smoking myself on November
15th.  How ironic then, when CBC called this afternoon, that WHAT? was the
first thing I wanted.  I bought more patches.  For this alone I will always
revere Peter Gzowski -- I am so sorry I didn't have the chance to share that
with him, in his own illness.  I hope his family and closest friends can
treasure even this one personal outcome, a gift just to me from SIR.

My deepest sympathy and condolences to all who knew him better, so much
better.  To his beloved partner Gil, to his family, to Shelley Ambrose, to
Shelagh and everyone else in the new Void at CBC Toronto...

Güte Reisen, SIR... und vielen dank`!

Mark Smith
Whitehorse

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