William Brady, CM (born 1932) is a

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

print and radio

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

and

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

who has been involved with various local and national organizations.

Early life

Brady was born in

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places *Detroit–Windsor, Michigan-Ontario, USA-Canada, North America; a cross-border metropolitan region Australia New South Wales *Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area Queen ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

and located to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in the 1950s to work in

radio broadcasting Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio signal, audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a lan ...

. He is regarded as a pioneer of the

telephone A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most ...

call-in show A talk show is a television programming, radio programming or podcast genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show', pp.3-4Erler, Robert (20 ...

in Canada.

Career

Brady's daily radio program was on the air in the

Southwestern Ontario Southwestern Ontario (census population 2,796,367 in 2021) is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. It occupies most of the Ontario Peninsula, bounded by Lake Huron (includ ...

region for more than 20 years. He also hosted a game show called ''Act Fast'' on the local television station

CFPL-TV CFPL-DT (channel 10) is a television station in London, Ontario, Canada, part of the CTV 2 system. It is owned and operated by Bell Media alongside Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener-based CTV Television Network, CTV station CKCO-DT (channel 13), alt ...

. Beyond his capacity as a radio personality for CFPL radio in London, Brady became more involved in the management of the station, eventually, in 1983 becoming the general manager. He went on to become president of operations for the Blackburn Radio company (owners of CFPL and five other stations) in 1993. Two years later in 1995, Brady was made senior vice-president at the parent

Blackburn Group Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

company which also owned the local television station CFPL-TV 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 Willi ...

'' daily newspaper. Brady is currently a regular freelance contributor to the op-ed pages of the Free Press. Brady has served as president of the Central Canada Broadcasters Association, and in 1996 he was inducted into the

Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame The Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame, started in 1982, recognizes Canadians in broadcasting or entertainment related industries who have "achieved outstanding success in helping raise industry standards from a material or humanitarian standpoint." T ...

. Brady has also engaged in public service and has been chairman of the board of University Hospital and the London Health Association. He also co-founded and was the first president of Transplant International (Canada) which seeks to expand

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

retrieval and transplant awareness. Brady is also vice-president of the board and a member of the executive committee at the John P. Robarts Research Institute (London) and has also been the director at the London Centre for Juvenile Diabetes Research. He has also served as national director of the Canadian Heart Foundation. Brady has been involved in numerous community organizations, often acting as Master of Ceremonies at various fund-raising and testimonial functions. In 1990 Brady received an

honorary An honorary position is one given as an honor, with no duties attached, and without payment. Other uses include: * Honorary Academy Award, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, United States * Honorary Aryan, a status in Nazi Germany ...

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

(LL.D.) from the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...

, and in 1991 he was made a

Member of the Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

, one of the highest civilian

honour Honour (Commonwealth English) or honor (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is a quality of a person that is of both social teaching and personal ethos, that manifests itself ...

s the country bestows upon its citizens, for his contributions to the country and community.

Personal life

The ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'' writer Linda Barnard is his daughter.

References

External links

Bill Brady's biography
from the ''Canadian Communications Foundation''.
Details of appointment to the Order of Canada
from the

Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada () is the federal representative of the . The monarch of Canada is also sovereign and head of state of 14 other Commonwealth realms and resides in the United Kingdom. The monarch, on the Advice (constitutional la ...

's website. {{DEFAULTSORT:Brady, Bill 1932 births Living people Canadian television hosts Journalists from Ontario Members of the Order of Canada People from Windsor, Ontario Canadian radio journalists Canadian newspaper journalists Canadian male journalists