Elizabeth Gray ( Binks; April 26, 1937 – October 25, 2023) was a Canadian journalist and radio broadcaster who through much of her career worked as a
host
A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it.
Host may also refer to:
Places
* Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County
* Host Island, in the Wilhelm Archipelago, Antarctica
People
* ...
and documentary producer for
CBC Radio
CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...
.
Life and career
Born in Toronto, her parents were George Binks, of Lachine, Québec, and Enid Watts Binks, of Letterston, Wales. Elizabeth graduated from
Havergal College
Havergal College is a private day and boarding school for girls from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The school was established in 1894 and named for Frances Ridley Havergal, a composer, author and humanitarian.
The ...
and studied English at the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...
. Her journalistic work started there, at the student newspaper, '' The Varsity'', then edited by
Peter Gzowski
Peter John Gzowski (July 13, 1934 – January 24, 2002), known colloquially as "Mr. Canada", or "Captain Canada",Mary Gazze Canadian Press via The ''Toronto Star'', August 23, 2010. Retrieved 2016-06-27. was a Canadian broadcaster, write ...
, where she also met fellow reporter John Gray, whom she married shortly after they graduated. She worked at the Toronto ''Telegram'' (and he at the ''
Toronto Daily 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 division.
The newspaper was establis ...
'') for several months, and then they moved to London, England, where they lived for five years. From the UK, she wrote for a number of Canadian periodicals, including ''
Maclean's
''Maclean's'' is a Canadian magazine founded in 1905 which reports on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, trends and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian ...
'', ''
Star Weekly
The ''Star Weekly'' magazine was a Canadian periodical published from 1910 until 1973. The publication was read widely in rural Canada where delivery of daily newspapers was infrequent.
History Formation
The newspaper was founded as the ''Toront ...
'', ''
Weekend
The weekdays and weekend are the complementary parts of the week, devoted to labour and rest, respectively. The legal weekdays (British English), or workweek (American English), is the part of the seven-day week devoted to working. In most o ...
'', ''
Chatelaine
Chatelaine may refer to:
*Chatelaine (chain), a set of short chains on a belt worn by women and men for carrying keys, thimble and/or sewing kit, etc.
* Chatelaine (horse), a racehorse
* ''Chatelaine'' (magazine), an English-language Canadian wom ...
'', and newspapers including the ''Telegram'' and the ''
Montreal Star
''The Montreal Star'' was an English language, English-language Canada, 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 1950 ...
'', under the byline Elizabeth Binks or Liz Binks''.'' She contributed pieces to the CBC program, ''Countdown'', and then continued to freelance for the broadcaster.
They returned to Canada in 1965, Based in Montreal, Gray produced radio programs for the CBC, including the weekly phone-in broadcast, '' Cross-Country Checkup''. She later hosted the weekly broadcast, from 1976 to 1978. Relocating to Ottawa in 1969, she continued to contribute freelance to local CBC radio broadcasts, including hosting CBC radio's first afternoon drive-time talk show, ''Now...Just Listen!'', at CBO, the morning program ''CBO Morning'', and a weekly conversation with federal politicians, ''Politically Speaking''. She also appeared on national programs, including items on the political program, ''Capital Report'', and guest-hosting '' This Country in the Morning''. She was featured on ''This Country'''s successor, '' Morningside'', in a weekly series of audio essays titled "Shades of Gray." Her 1975 documentary, "The Supreme Court in Canada," which aired on ''CBC Tuesday Night'', earned her an
ACTRA award
The ACTRA Awards are Canadian accolades presented since 1972 to celebrate excellence in cinema, television and radio industries. In summer 1976, she hosted ''Olympic Magazine'', CBC radio's coverage of the Montreal Olympic Games. In 1979 she presented an open-line show on the Ottawa commercial radio station, CKOY''.'' By the end of the decade, she was thinking that her broadcasting career had stalled. She was negotiating a return to print journalism, at ''Maclean's'', but then faced two options that might keep her on the air at the CBC. One was the opportunity to co-host '' The Journal'', a new television current-affairs program featuring
Barbara Frum
Barbara Frum (née Rosberg; September 8, 1937 – March 26, 1992), OC was an American-born Canadian radio and television journalist, acclaimed for her interviews for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Personal life
Barbara Frum was born ...
, and the other was the chance to replace Frum on the radio network's flagship interview show, ''
As It Happens
''As It Happens'' is a Canadian interview show that airs on CBC Radio One in Canada and various public radio stations in the United States through Public Radio Exchange. Its 50th anniversary was celebrated on-air on November 16, 2018. It has be ...
'', which she had guest-hosted a number of times. Pursuing the last option, Gray took over from Frum on ''As It Happens'' in September 1981.
In April 1984,
ACTRA
The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) is a Canadian trade union representing performers in English-language media. It has over 30,000 members working in film, television, radio, and all other recorded media. Th ...
presented Gray its annual honour for excellence in broadcast journalism, the
Gordon Sinclair Award The Gordon Sinclair Award is a Canadian journalism award, presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television for excellence in broadcast journalism. Originally presented as part of the ACTRA Awards, it was transferred to the new Gemini Award ...
. The next year, in a controversial decision by the show's producers, at the end of the broadcast season her contract was not renewed. She presented her last ''As It Happens'' program on June 14, 1985, and was replaced that September by Dennis Trudeau. ''
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.
...
'' entertainment columnist Sid Adilman saw her as a "
scapegoat
In the Bible, a scapegoat is one of a pair of kid goats that is released into the wilderness, taking with it all sins and impurities, while the other is sacrificed. The concept first appears in the Book of Leviticus, in which a goat is designate ...
" for problems with the broadcast, which had already endured staff changes, had been shortened from 90 minutes to one hour, and was slipping in the ratings. News of Gray's dismissal attracted some 200 letters of protest from listeners, objections from other high-profile fellow journalists including
Allan Fotheringham
Allan Fotheringham (August 31, 1932August 19, 2020) was a Canadian newspaper and magazine journalist. He styled himself Dr. Foth and "the Great Gatheringfroth". He was described as "never at a loss for words".
Early life
Fotheringham was born ...
and
Richard Gwyn
Richard Gwyn (ca. 1537 – 15 October 1584), also known by his anglicized name, Richard White, was a Welsh teacher at illegal and underground schools and a bard who wrote both Christian and satirical poetry in the Welsh language. A Roman C ...
, and petitions from 23 parliamentary reporters and more than 100 CBC producers and hosts. Some responded in kind by putting Gray back on the air, on other programs, including the television chat show, ''
Midday
Noon (also known as noontime or midday) is 12 o'clock in the daytime. It is written as 12 noon, 12:00 m. (for '' meridiem'', literally 12:00 midday), 12 p.m. (for ''post meridiem'', literally "after midday"), 12 pm, or 12:00 (using a 24-hour cloc ...
'', and the weekly political roundup on CBC radio, '' The House''. She subsequently produced and presented radio segments for '' Sunday Morning'', initially on a thirteen-week contract that was renewed when it ended. For years thereafter, from across Canada and throughout the world, Gray produced dozens of features for the program and its successor, '' The Sunday Edition''. Relocating with husband John Gray to London in 1987, and Moscow in 1991, then returning to Canada in 1994, she continued to produce audio documentaries for the CBC until her retirement, as she approached age 70.
She won the 1986 ACTRA National Radio Award as "Best Interviewer," for her work on ''Sunday Morning,'' and, in 1988, the association's Norman DePoe Award for investigative journalism, for her feature, "In South Africa, I Would Be White."
After having been admitted to hospital following a heart attack in September 2023, she died from lung cancer on October 25, 2023, at the age of 86. She is survived by her children, Colin, Rachel, and Joshua Gray, all of Toronto.