H... Names     HO... Names     HON... Names     Welcome Home

HONDERICH o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2005-11-09 published
Beland HONDERICH, Newspaper Publisher (1918-2005)
Micromanager changed the Toronto Star from a scoop-an-edition news sheet into an information-based vehicle for an emerging middle class, writes Sandra MARTIN
By Sandra MARTIN, Wednesday, November 9, 2005, Page S9
An outsider who joined the Toronto Star as a "wartime replacement," Beland (Bee) HONDERICH worked his way up through the newsroom to become editor, publisher and ultimately chairman of the board of the country's largest and most colourful city newspaper. Its archives can boast staff bylines belonging to Ernest Hemingway (he likened it to "serving in the Prussian army under a bad general"), Pierre Berton, Gordon Sinclair and Peter Newman.
A micromanager and a curmudgeon who was feared more than he was loved, he transformed and modernized the Star, built a legendary newsroom in the late 1950s and 1960s, fought and won a newspaper war with the now defunct Toronto Telegram, bought up its circulation lists and its fleet of community newspapers, crusaded in support of diversity, national unity and cultural nationalism, and acquired Harlequin Enterprises, for many years a substantial cash cow for Torstar Corp.
"He took a paper that mattered and turned it into a great newspaper. I think his impact on Canadian journalism and his craft was huge," said his son, John HONDERICH, himself a former editor and publisher of the Toronto Star and now a member of the board of directors of Torstar Corp.
He was hard to love, but easy to respect, said Peter NEWMAN, editor-in-chief from 1969 to 1971. "I was always impressed by his wisdom, his determination and his optimistic view of the Canadian future. Unlike most publishers, his ideology went way beyond the bottom line. He never really understood the Canada that stretched beyond the shadow of the C.N. Tower, but he loved the idea of this country."
Beland▼ (Bee) Hugh▼ HONDERICH was born in Baden (near Kitchener,) Ontario, one of six children of John William HONDERICH, a Mennonite postmaster and railway agent, and Rae Laura (ARMSTRONG,) a Presbyterian. Religion was a contentious and omnipresent factor, according to Mr. HONDERICH's youngest brother, philosopher Edgar (Ted) HONDERICH. His▼ father liked unusual names. He called his eldest son Loine and he named his second son after a physician named Béland in Montreal.
During the Depression, the family home was sold at auction when the mortgage holder foreclosed. Beland left school after Grade 8 to help support the family and began working as the Baden correspondent for the Kitchener Record (now The Record) in 1935 at the age of 17.
He did well covering two big fires in his community and made the move to the Toronto Star as a wartime replacement in 1943, earning $35 a week. He had been rejected from the armed forces because he had poor eyesight and a bad ear. When he got to the Star, he was told "all the good men were away fighting" and warned that there wouldn't be a job for him when they came back.
Shy, private, and insecure -- the poorly educated country man in the big city -- he "always felt he had to work twice as hard," according to his son, John.
Mr. HONDERICH told the journalist Doug (now George) FETHERLING in a 1983 interview for Saturday Night magazine that "you produced or else," explaining that he covered two speeches a day, delivering a few facts and a couple of "punchy" quotes. "It left a deep impression on my mind... what people are interested in is information." This was a lesson he would apply when he had control of the paper.
Far from being dismissed when peace was declared, he was promoted to financial editor in 1945, named editor-in-chief a decade later and elected a director of the company in 1957.
The Toronto Star is a private business like other newspapers in Canada, but it is unusual in that it is owned by a group of families and it operates according to a set of principles established by the late Joseph ATKINSON Sr. He became editor in 1899, quickly turned the struggling newspaper around and soon acquired a controlling interest. In 1911, Harry C. HINDMARSH joined the paper. He became Mr. ATKINSON's lieutenant and his son-in-law. Together, they turned the newspaper into the home of "razzle-dazzle journalism," ordering saturation coverage of big stories and indulging in huge headlines, full-page pictures and wacky stunts. They also supported the Liberal Party and social-welfare issues such as mothers' allowances, unemployment insurance, old-age pensions, minimum wages and the rights of labour unions. The combination of Christian piety, free-wheeling Fabian socialism and popular journalism was good for circulation and advertising revenues. By 1913, the Star was Toronto's largest paper and Mr. ATKINSON was its controlling shareholder.
He died in 1948, leaving an estate of more than $8-million, putting the bulk of it, including the ownership of the paper, into the Atkinson Charitable Foundation, which he had established six years earlier. In his will, he directed that profits from the paper's operations were "for the promotion and maintenance of social, scientific and economic reforms which are charitable in nature, for the benefit of the people of the province of Ontario" and he stipulated that the paper could be sold only to people who shared his social views.
Mr. HINDMARSH became president of the five-person board established to govern the paper and carry out Mr. ATKINSON's wishes. However, the Ontario government, led by Conservative Leslie FROST, and rival newspapers, including The Globe and Mail and The Toronto Telegram, argued that the foundation was merely a device to avoid paying succession duties on Mr. ATKINSON's estate.
The FROST government passed a law forbidding charitable foundations from owning more than 10 per cent of a profit-making business. The Star was given seven years to sell its business interests, with the foundation's trustees, officers and directors allowed to buy them, subject to the approval of the Supreme Court of Canada.
While this wrangling was going on, Mr. HINDMARSH dropped dead of a heart attack on December 20, 1956. The new board of the Atkinson Foundation was made up of Joseph S. ATKINSON (son of the late Mr. ATKINSON,) his sister Ruth HINDMARSH (widow of Mr. HINDMARSH), Burnett THALL, William J. CAMPBELL and Mr. HONDERICH.
In 1958, after swearing before the Supreme Court that they would uphold the principles outlined in Mr. ATKINSON's will, they were allowed to buy the newspaper. They paid $25.5-million in a leveraged buyout, which Globe business columnist Eric REGULY has called "the steal of the century." They put down $1-million in cash and secured most of the rest by selling debt and preferred shares to the public.
Mr. HONDERICH, who had been editor for three years and on the board for one, had no family money or other resources to draw upon. He was living in a duplex with his wife and three children. "We had one couch and one chair," said his son John. "The Bank of Commerce virtually put up all the money, but the security was the shares of the largest newspaper in the country."
In addition, Mr. HONDERICH took a personal loan for his 15-per-cent share, helped by advice and references from accountant, cultural nationalist and later politician, Walter GORDON. Today, Torstar Corp., the media conglomerate that owns the Star, is worth about $1.7-billion.
As editor and then publisher, Mr. HONDERICH built the great Toronto Star newsroom of the late 1950s and 1960s. He transformed the paper from a flashy, scoop-an-edition news sheet into an information-based vehicle for columnists and critics. He quickly realized, according to journalist Val SEARS, that the real market in the postwar period lay in finding readers among the young middle class in the suburbs who were moving up through the social strata.
They wanted context and information, not just headlines. Ron HAGGART worked as a columnist for the Star in the sixties. Mr. HONDERICH had the right ideas about how to change the Star, which was a stodgy, old-fashioned paper, according to Mr. HAGGART. "It was still a paper that believed the most recent event deserved a headline because it had happened in the last hour."
Among the stable of writers and editors Mr. HONDERICH enlisted or celebrated were: Pierre Berton as a daily columnist, Charles Templeton as managing editor, Nathan Cohen as drama critic, Milt Dunnell on sports, Gwyn (Jocko) Thomas on crime and Peter NEWMAN as Ottawa editor and editor-in-chief.
He loved to hire people, said journalist Robert FULFORD, who worked for the Star twice (from 1958 to 1962 and from 1964 to 1968), but he quickly grew bored with them. Managing editors were a notoriously endangered species, according to Mr. FULFORD, who once joked that after more than two years on the job, managing editors took on the look of "hunted animals." When he was having trouble sleeping at night, police reporter Jocko Thomas was said to recite the names of the more than 40 city editors who served during his long career at the paper.
Mr. NEWMAN spent seven years at the Star, leaving in 1971 in "frustration because [Mr. HONDERICH] was always stone-cold certain about what he didn't want, but not good at suggesting practical options."
He could be a bully. "He wasn't a particularly big man, but he looked big to his employees. He tended to tower," said Mr. SEARS, who worked for Mr. HONDERICH for about 25 years in a number of capacities, including Ottawa bureau chief and Washington correspondent. "He spoke low, but he made his position very clear. On the other hand, he was certainly the best publisher I ever worked for because he knew what he wanted and he would back you up."
Saying that he and Mr. HONDERICH fought a lot, especially when he was editor of the editorial page, Mr. SEARS said he always thought it was a mistake to try to outguess his boss. Mr. HONDERICH seemed aware of his power. "He once said to me, 'If I walk through that newsroom and I say to someone it is a nice day, by the final edition I have two full pages on the weather," said Mr. SEARS.
Stories abound about Mr. HONDERICH's tendency to micromanage. When he was editor, he behaved as though he was the publisher and when he became publisher and president in 1966, "he acted as though he owned the paper outright," Mr. FULFORD said.
Staffers were obsessed with anticipating his wishes, often with bizarre results. Somebody heard that "Bee" believed that a colour photograph had to have red in it, so Star photographers took to stowing red jackets in their cars and asking people to put them on before snapping their pictures, or so the story goes.
"Bee had a phobia about accompanying each picture in his paper with explanatory cutlines," recalled Mr. NEWMAN. "I got hell once for running an illustration of Gina Lollobrigida, the Italian film star, standing beside a male dwarf, because I had left out the 'left' and 'right' identifications."
During his years at the newspaper, Mr. HONDERICH oversaw the introduction of colour, the shift from an afternoon to a morning paper, a Sunday edition and the appointment of the first ombudsman at any paper in Canada. He was also a driving force behind the establishment of the Ontario Press Council. In 1976, he was appointed chairman and chief executive officer of Torstar Corp. He continued to serve as publisher until September, 1988.
Mr. HONDERICH married three times. His and his first wife Florence divorced in 1962. He married Agnes KING in 1968. Star legend has it that he called the paper from the airport as he and his bride were leaving on their honeymoon and asked for the front page to be read to him. She died of cancer in 1999 after a long and painful illness. "He was amazingly diligent in the way he cared for her," said his son John.
That same year he became engaged to Rina WHELAN, a widow he had met many years before (when both were married to other people) in the barbershop of the Hotel Vancouver, where she worked as a manicurist. "This is one of the great love stories," John HONDERICH said, "I have had the honour of standing up for him at two of his three weddings."
The HONDERICHs lived in the penthouse of La Carina (Rina's House,) a condominium she had developed and built on English Bay. "He was a wealthy man and she was a wealthy woman," commented Mr. HONDERICH's brother Ted, "and so both were under suspicion of being gold diggers."
Mr. HONDERICH became more left wing in his politics as he became older, said his brother. "All newspaper publishers are accused of being ruthless, but actually they are activists," he said. "They want to make things happen and they don't like things hanging on in an indecisive way."
Beland Hugh HONDERICH was born on November 25, 1918, in Baden, Ontario. He died yesterday in St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver after a massive stroke. He was 86. He is survived by his first wife Florence, his third wife Rina, three children, six grandchildren and one brother.

  H... Names     HO... Names     HON... Names     Welcome Home

HONDERICH o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2005-11-12 published
I Remember -- Beland "Bee" HONDERICH
By Anthony WESTELL, Saturday, November 12, 2005, Page S9
Toronto -- Two former Toronto Star journalists recall Beland (Bee) HONDERICH, whose obituary appeared on November 9.
Many stories depict Beland HONDERICH, editor and publisher of the Toronto Star, as a tyrannical boss. Example: When some innocent inquired why the Star had moved to a new building on the waterfront, the answer was, "So Bee can park his U-boat."
My experience when he hired me as an Ottawa columnist, and for many years when I contributed to the newspaper only occasionally, was quite different. He was always courteous, generous and ready to listen to whatever idea happened to be on the top of my mind when we lunched. But he had ideas about journalism cemented into his mind and would brook no argument. He insisted, for example, that editorials, like news stories, should state their conclusions up front.
I remember when I was summer relief editor on the editorial page when the Star was an afternoon paper -- going into the office early one morning and deciding I had to write a leading editorial on some momentous overnight event. It was not clear in my mind what the Star should say and I was working out the conclusion as I wrote.
Bee walked in, urged me to keep writing as deadline was close, and began to read through the carbon copy of what I had done so far. Then he shuffled the sheets together, laid them carefully on my desk, said, "When you get to the point, I think I'm going to agree with you," and walked out.
The longer I knew him the better I liked him.

  H... Names     HO... Names     HON... Names     Welcome Home

HONDERICH o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2005-11-12 published
I Remember -- Beland HONDERICH
By Geoff STEVENSON, Saturday, November 12, 2005, Page S9
Brentwood Bay, British Columbia -- Beland HONDERICH (also known to his staff as BHH) was one of the few newspaper publishers in the world who was in the office almost every Saturday.
From 1973 to 1976, I edited the Saturday edition of the Toronto Star. Bee would appear in the newsroom mid-morning as we readied the final edition (the Star was an afternoon paper in those days), always dressed in grey flannel slacks, navy-blue blazer, white shirt and tie -- and highly polished black shoes.
One morning, he came by to tell me he'd been listening to Canadian Broadcasting Corporation radio, which had carried a report by English researchers who had found that the loneliest people in Britain were those in big cities -- although, paradoxically, they were surrounded by myriad things to do. Bee thought our readers would be interested in the research.
The Star's switchboard soon found Frank Jones, the Star's resident reporter in London (this was long before the advent of cell phones), and I briefed Frank on the story, asking him to file for Monday's paper.
The story arrived over the weekend -- with the notation " BHH requested." I had no further involvement with it, but it appeared on the front page on Monday. The Star was the only Canadian paper to carry the story.
It was not a remarkable story. What was remarkable was Bee's passion for his paper: He was in the office when most other senior managers were on the golf course or at the cottage -- and he knew an interesting story.
He was a difficult man to work for, but then, aren't all really good managers demanding? He was a giant on the Canadian media scene.

  H... Names     HO... Names     HON... Names     Welcome Home

HONDERICH o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-11-09 published
He made his mark on city and nation
By WARREN Gerard, Special To The Star
Beland HONDERICH rose from plain beginnings to become one of the most influential Canadians of his day, using his power as publisher of Canada's largest newspaper to influence the agenda in politics and business at every level.
At the same time he set new standards for informed, in-depth, responsible reporting.
HONDERICH, publisher of the Toronto Star for 22 of his 52 years at the paper, died in Vancouver at 86 yesterday following a stroke.
HONDERICH was a fiercely private man, almost reclusive, but that didn't keep him from being an impatient perfectionist, a leader whose principal ethic was work.
The Star was his life, his passion.
Among his many honours, and one he treasured, was his election in 1986 to the News Hall of Fame by journalists across Canada for leading "Canadian newspapers into a new direction, taking readers backstage to explore and explain the current events that shaped their lives."
HONDERICH left the publisher's office in 1988, going on to become board chairman of the newspaper and its parent company, Torstar Corp. He retired from that position in 1994, but maintained an office across from the newsroom on the fifth floor at One Yonge St. until 1999.
Beland Hugh HONDERICH was born in Kitchener on November 25, 1918, and grew up in the nearby village of Baden. He was proud of his pioneer roots -- Mennonites from Germany who found religious freedom in Waterloo County in the early 1800s.
"My father was a man who stood for religious freedom, and I am proud to follow in his footsteps," HONDERICH once said.
His▲ father, John HONDERICH, was ostracized in the staunchly traditional Mennonite community because he and young Beland went to hear a speaker from another Amish sect. The shunning, as it was called, meant that other Reform Mennonites were forbidden to sit down to eat with them or to shake their hands.
Nor did his father quite fit in with his thrifty, hard-working neighbours in other ways. A sometime beekeeper, homespun village philosopher, printer and pamphleteer for liberal causes, he was "not a very good provider" in a community where work was next to godliness.
His mother, Rae, was the family's main breadwinner. She was the local telephone operator, a job that included the use of a train station in Baden which served as a home for the HONDERICHs and their six children. HONDERICH recalled that the family never went hungry, but there was little money for anything but food.
He gathered coal along the railway tracks to heat their home and carried water in summer to gangs of workers repairing the roads. In the mornings, he worked around the Canadian National Railway station, sweeping and cleaning up for 40 cents a day.
Despite winning a regional debating championship with his sister Ruth -- they defended the proposition that the Soviet way of life was superior to the American way -- he struggled to pass high school entrance examinations.
HONDERICH didn't do well in high school. And it didn't help that he had to hitchhike 16 kilometres to and from school in Kitchener. As a result, his attendance was spotty and his marks were poor. He was demoted in his second year to a commercial course "where at least I learned to type."
Discouraged, he dropped out of school and got a job as a farmhand at the beginning of the Great Depression, much to his mother's displeasure. "You can do better than that," he recalled her saying on more than one occasion.
The farm job didn't last. His introduction to reporting came about because his father was hard of hearing and took his son to public meetings and political rallies to take notes. It taught the young HONDERICH, who was later to battle deafness himself, to write quickly and accurately.
He inherited a Kitchener-Waterloo Record paper route from one of his brothers, which led him to become the paper's correspondent for Baden at 10 cents a column inch. He created news by organizing a softball team and covering its games for the paper.
When he was 17, fires on successive nights destroyed two barns owned by a prominent Baden farmer. Arson was suspected and the young HONDERICH's coverage so impressed his editors that they offered him a tryout as a cub reporter in Kitchener at $15 a week.
He showed up for work in a mismatched jacket and pants and with his two front teeth missing from a tough hockey game the night before. He didn't shine as a reporter.
The publisher, W.J. MOTZ, concluded after a week that HONDERICH was in the wrong line of work and told city editor Art LOW/LOWE/LOUGH to fire him. But LOW/LOWE/LOUGH saw something in the youngster and persuaded MOTZ to give him a second chance.
LOW/LOWE/LOUGH worked HONDERICH hard. He gave him an assignment each evening to go along with his day job. Ed HAYES, who worked at the Record in those days, recalled in an interview that HONDERICH (or "Bee" as he was nicknamed) was determined to succeed.
"Each reporter was supposed to turn in a story every afternoon at the end of his shift. Bee wasn't satisfied with that. He'd turn in two, three or more.
"He was the darling of the city desk."
As time went by, he improved, becoming more and more confident. He was also developing into a perfectionist. So much so, in fact, that he'd bet an ice cream with an assistant city editor that he would find nothing that needed to be changed in a HONDERICH story.
At first, he recalled, it cost him a lot of ice cream cones, but later he rarely had to pay off.
In those early days at the Record, HONDERICH knew he had a country bumpkin image. So when he had saved enough money, he went to a quality menswear store and asked the manager to show him how to dress. He bought a dark pin-striped suit, complete with vest, and that look became his uniform in life.
A fellow staffer at the Record recalled HONDERICH borrowing a bike from a delivery boy and speeding off to an assignment in his pin-striped suit.
And co-workers described him as a loner who rarely headed for the beer parlour with the boys after work, though he was known to sip a scotch on special occasions. Mostly, he went to Norm Jones' restaurant for a milkshake.
Though he spent most of his time working, he taught Sunday school at a Presbyterian church, and served as secretary for a minor hockey league.
This involvement brought him into contact with Milt DUNNELL, the legendary Star sports columnist, who had made a name for himself at the Stratford Beacon Herald before heading for Toronto. He told HONDERICH that the Star was looking for reporters to replace those who had enlisted to serve in World War 2. HONDERICH, who had been rejected by the Royal Canadian Air Force and merchant marine because of poor eyesight and hearing, applied to the Star in 1943 and was hired as a reporter for $35 a week.
He was proud that the Kitchener city council gave him a vote of thanks for his fair reporting. And MOTZ, the publisher who thought he would never make it in the newspaper business, begged him not to go.
Stepping into the grandly marbled lobby of the Star's building at 80 King St. W., HONDERICH recalled that he was "scared as hell." But he was in the right place. This was the world of Joe ATKINSON.
As publisher, Joseph E. ATKINSON had guided the paper through most of the first half-century and was seen by friend and foe alike as one of the country's leading reformers. It turned out that the publisher and his new employee had some things in common.
Both had come from large, impoverished, God-fearing families in small-town Ontario, and quit school early to put food on the table. "One thing I had in common with Joe ATKINSON," HONDERICH recalled, "is that I knew need."
There was a major difference, however. ATKINSON was a star of Canadian journalism in 1899 when the new owners of the Toronto Evening Star hired him at 34 to run the paper. HONDERICH was 24 when he arrived at the paper, an unproven asset at the time.
But he didn't take long to prove himself. His work was soon noticed by Harry C. HINDMARSH, ATKINSON's son-in-law and the man who ran the newsroom.
HINDMARSH sent HONDERICH to Saskatchewan for the election that brought Tommy Douglas and the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (later to become the New Democratic Party) to power in 1944.
The next year he was sent back to do a progress report on North America's first socialist government. His stories were so enthusiastically some thought naively -- positive that the Saskatchewan government asked permission to reprint them.
They also caught the eye of Joe ATKINSON, whose reform ideas were at home with the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation's, although he never endorsed the party at election time. HONDERICH was marked as someone worth watching. He was asked to fill in as an editorial writer, the newspaper job he enjoyed most of all.
Some critics said HONDERICH's writing lacked flair or style. But it was clear. He explained complicated matters in simple, accurate terms. His idea was to dive right into a story, delivering the promise of the headline in the first paragraph.
In his reporting career, HONDERICH covered a wide variety of assignments, collecting his share of scoops, enough to impress HINDMARSH. In 1946, he called in HONDERICH, congratulated him on a story, then remarked, "Oh, by the way, the financial editor left today. I'd like you to start as financial editor on Monday."
"But I don't know the difference between a stock and a bond," HONDERICH replied.
"You'll learn," HINDMARSH said.
HONDERICH told HINDMARSH he would take the job on the condition that he be allowed to go back to feature writing if it didn't work out.
"If you don't make a go of it, you'll go out the door," HINDMARSH said in a menacing way.
It goes without saying that HONDERICH made a go of it.
One of the first things he noticed from his new desk was a tailor at work in a building across King St. He decided his business section would write for that tailor, for the ordinary person.
His News Hall of Fame citation noted: "He led in turning the writing and presentation of financial news into a readable subject in terms that interest the average reader." He criticized the stock exchange, questioned banking methods, recommended profit sharing, and supported credit unions and other co-operatives.
But when there were major stories to be covered, HINDMARSH often took HONDERICH out of his financial department and sent him all over the globe -- to Newfoundland on the eve of its joining Canada, to Argentina where press freedom was under attack, to Asia with Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent for the first round-the-world trip taken by a Canadian prime minister, and to Britain for the funeral of George VI.
In 1948, HONDERICH, along with 12 other employees, chartered the first Canadian local of the American Newspaper Guild. As president of the union, he signed the first contract with the Star.
Some members of the union were suspicious, however, thinking that as financial editor he was "a company stooge" trying to make sure the Guild didn't fall into the hands of disgruntled left-wingers.
They weren't aware, however, that he knew all about bad working conditions because he had done both day and night assignments as a young reporter in Kitchener.
He served three terms as Guild president and helped win better pay and working conditions. Later, on the other side of the negotiating table, he continued to believe in the need for an organized newsroom, although that view was severely tested in a bitter strike in HONDERICH had become a major force in the newsroom when ATKINSON died in 1948 after nearly 50 years as publisher of a racy paper with principles.
His death, however, created a crisis at the paper. ATKINSON's will had left the Star to a charitable foundation to be administered by his trustees. However, the Ontario Conservative government passed the Charitable Gifts Act, which said no charity could own more than 10 per cent of a business.
The government may have viewed the will as an attempt to escape death duties, but more likely the legislation was an attempt to muzzle the Star, a liberal thorn in the Tory side.
Nevertheless, it became a distinct possibility the paper might be sold to outside interests. Bidders, including beer baron E.P. TAILOR/TAYLOR, were lining up for a chance to buy what had become Canada's most profitable daily.
The Star was granted stays of execution however, and HINDMARSH, the founder's son-in-law, succeeded ATKINSON until his own death in 1956. In the HINDMARSH years, the paper seemed to lose direction and much of its fairness, particularly in the reporting of politics. The paper's reputation was going downhill.
Meanwhile, HONDERICH had been appointed editor-in-chief in 1955 and a couple of years later he was appointed to the board, after HINDMARSH's sudden death. It put him in the position of becoming an owner of the paper.
Walter GORDON, an accountant who was to become finance minister in Lester Pearson's Liberal government, worked out a plan for the trustees to buy the Star by putting up $1 million among the six of them, including HONDERICH. The paper was valued at $25.5 million.
At the time, the sale price was the most ever paid in Canada for a newspaper, and it turned out to be a steal. Under HONDERICH's leadership, Torstar, the Star's parent company, would become a more than $1 billion enterprise over the next 30-plus years.
For readers and the staff, the HONDERICH years had begun, although he didn't take over as publisher until 1966. Immediately, however, he went about remaking the paper. Headlines didn't scream any more, and the silly and the sensational disappeared from the paper.
HONDERICH was putting his stamp on the Star. Reporting only the facts wasn't good enough. He demanded thorough backgrounding of stories to make them understandable to the average reader. Or, as he said, for "my barber."
He created a great newsroom that included sports columnist DUNNELL and leading Canadian writers such as Pierre BERTON, Peter NEWMAN, Charles TEMPLETON and Nathan COHEN, as well as award-winning cartoonist Duncan MacPHERSON.
HONDERICH returned the Star to the principles of Joseph E. ATKINSON, including a reform-centred editorial policy. Unemployment, affordable housing, adequate welfare benefits, medicare, pensions, minority rights, the need for an independent Canada -- these became subjects he demanded be dealt with on a daily basis.
In one of his rare public appearances, he told a group of editors in 1961 that "the basic function of a newspaper is to inform, to tell the public what is happening in the community, in the nation and in the world. You will notice I did not use the word, entertain." He felt that television had made entertainment a secondary function for newspapers. "How much better then, to concentrate on what we can do best, and that is to inform the public."
The change was most evident in the Star's treatment of politics and economics. The background feature gradually became commonplace in North American journalism, and a poll of U.S. editors rated the Star one of the world's 10 top foreign papers.
Critics of the HONDERICH way -- many of them highly placed in the paper -- couldn't wait for HONDERICH's grey, humourless Star to fail, but they were doomed to disappointment, just as surely as the Star's competitor -- the unchanging Telegram -- was doomed to extinction.
Not only did the Star's circulation grow, so did its profits.
Honesty and integrity were words that most people associated with HONDERICH. But many on his staff found him a demanding taskmaster, an uncompromising and often difficult man to deal with. There was never any doubt that Beland HONDERICH was the boss. He wasn't one for chit-chat.
Early in his career as publisher, he all but cut himself off from the social whirl of movers and shakers. He admitted to becoming almost reclusive after finding himself challenged at social functions and parties to defend Star policies he felt needed no defence, especially since he had put them into place.
But he never felt that way about the public at large. The so-called Little Guy could get him on the phone more easily than a celebrity could. His home number was in the book. And in the days when the Star was an afternoon paper, it wasn't unusual for an evening editor to get a call from HONDERICH, who in turn had received an irate call at home from a reader whose paper hadn't been delivered.
The paper would be delivered by taxi, and the taxi company was instructed to report to the editor the moment the paper had arrived. Then HONDERICH would phone the reader to make sure he was satisfied.
The first part of his 12-hour working day was spent poring over page proofs, quarrelling about leads of stories, questioning something in the 25th paragraph, asking for more background, and demanding follow-ups.
He was articulate, often painfully so for the person at the other end of his complaints. His editors took great pleasure when he demanded "antidotal" leads. He meant anecdotal leads.
Notes with the heavy-handed BHH signature on them rained from his office.
The difficulty everyone had in pleasing him and the way he prowled the newsroom won him the nickname "The Beast." And he was called "Drac" by some editors who thought he, like the vampire, sucked the staff dry.
When the paper departed from what the reader had come to believe was a Star tradition, he took to the typewriter to explain the reasons himself. In 1972, for example, he put his initials on an editorial that explained why the Star was supporting Progressive Conservative Robert Stanfield over Liberal Pierre Trudeau in the federal election.
In his rare public appearances, the nasal flatness of his voice often disguised the passion he felt for a subject. However, he was an effective spokesman for the causes he championed. In defending the Star's strong stand on economic nationalism, he told the Canadian Club it was based on the need to preserve the differences between Canada and the United States.
"I think our society tends to be more compassionate, somewhat less extreme and certainly less violent," he said. "We put more emphasis on basic human needs such as health insurance and pensions."
He warned that increased U.S. ownership of Canadian resources would endanger our ability to maintain those differences.
In a 1989 speech at Carleton University in Ottawa, he caused a stir when he argued that objectivity in newspapers was neither possible nor desirable.
"No self-respecting newspaper deliberately distorts or slants the news to make it conform to its own point of view," he said. "But you cannot publish a newspaper without making value judgments on what news you select to publish and how you present it in the paper.
"And these value judgments reflect a view of society -- a point of view if you will -- that carries as much weight, if not more, than what is said on the editorial page."
Just as ATKINSON used the news pages to popularize reform ideas, HONDERICH used them as a weapon in his own causes.
One example was his reaction to a document leaked to him outlining then-prime minister Brian Mulroney's government strategy on free trade. It said the communications strategy "should rely less on educating the public than getting across the message that the free trade initiative is a good idea -- in other words a selling job."
HONDERICH made sure all aspects of free trade were put under the kind of scrutiny the government wanted to avoid, particularly the possible effects on employment and social benefits.
Simon REISMAN, the bellicose chief trade negotiator, accused HONDERICH of personally waging a vendetta against free trade. He said HONDERICH used the Star "in a manner that contradicts every sense of fairness and decency in the newspaper business."
In reply, the unrepentant publisher said: "The role of a newspaper, as I see it, is to engage in the full and frank dissemination of the news and opinion from the perspective of its values and particular view of society. It should report the news fairly and accurately, reflect all pertinent facts and opinions and not only what the official establishment thinks and says."
As publisher, he demonstrated an impressive business savvy for a man who once said he hardly knew the difference between a stock and a bond. In 1972, he moved the paper to new quarters at One Yonge St.
And later, in his position as chief executive officer of the parent company, Torstar Corp., he acquired Harlequin Enterprises, the world's largest publisher of romance books, and 15 community newspapers to add to the 14 the Star already owned in the Toronto area.
At the same time, HONDERICH still was very much making his mark in journalism. He was the first in Canada to introduce a bureau of accuracy and to appoint an ombudsman to represent the reader in the newsroom. In a wider sense, he was the main force behind the establishment of the Ontario Press Council, where readers can take their complaints to an independent body.
As well as his election to the News Hall of Fame, he was honoured in other ways, receiving doctors of law degrees from Wilfrid Laurier and York universities, and the Order of Canada in 1987.
HONDERICH was married three times, the last time on New Year's Day 2000 to Rina WHELAN of Vancouver, the city where he lived until his death. He had two sons: John, who followed in his father's footsteps to become publisher of the Star, and David, an entrepreneur and one daughter, Mary, a philosophy and English teacher. He also had six grandchildren.
Even into his eighties, HONDERICH exercised daily and loved to play bridge, golf and fish.
Charles E. PASCAL, executive director of the Atkinson Charitable Foundation, recalled golfing with HONDERICH after he had entered his eighties. PASCAL was in his mid-fifties.
"I expected to be slowed down by playing with a couple of guys in their seventies and one in his eighties," PASCAL said. "Bee, as with everything else, played golf with determination, focus and tenacity. I was quite impressed with his golfing. He was very competitive."
After HONDERICH stepped down as publisher in 1988, and as a director of Torstar in 1995, he lost none of his zeal for pursuing causes. He did this through the Atkinson Charitable Foundation and his own personal philanthropy.
"His role on our board was absolutely essential, forceful, radical," PASCAL said.
"I had the sense that the older he got he became more and more impatient. He was impatient, just impatient, about all that is yet to be done by governments and others to reduce the inequities for those who are disadvantaged through no fault of their own."
He was generous in his giving and, as was his character, he had no interest in public recognition or praise.
"He just had no time whatsoever for personal recognition," PASCAL recalled.
"I think he would have liked to have been around forever if for no other reason than to contribute more."
At HONDERICH's request, there will be a cremation, after which the family will hold a small private gathering to celebrate his life.

  H... Names     HO... Names     HON... Names     Welcome Home

HONDERICH o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-11-09 published
HONDERICH, Beland▲ Hugh▲
Passed away peacefully in St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver, after a short illness on November 8, 2005, at the age of 86. Dearly beloved husband of Rina. Older brother to Ted. Father to John, Mary and David. Grandfather to Carl, Clara, Robin, Emily, Holly and Rachel. A newspaperman to the core, he lived his life dedicated to the pursuit of truth, social justice, and the betterment of society. At the deceased's request, after cremation, a private family gathering to celebrate his life will take place. If desired, memorial donations may be made to the charity of your choice or the Star Santa Claus Fund.

  H... Names     HO... Names     HON... Names     Welcome Home

HONDERICH o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-12-06 published
Beland HONDERICH: Remembering a crusader
He wanted only an 'informal gathering' and he got it: 300 Friends, politicians and journalists trade stories about the extraordinary longtime Star publisher
By Jessica LEEDER, Staff Reporter
A man widely known for his decisiveness and direction, Beland HONDERICH left strict instructions for his family regarding his memorial. Instead of a funeral, he wrote to them, he wanted an "informal gathering," memories shared over glasses of wine, "without fuss."
There was much laughter and negligible levels of fuss at a downtown reception last night where the former Toronto Star publisher and fierce perfectionist was remembered as nothing less. More than 300 guests traded stories of the legendary man who was one of the most influential publishers in the newspaper's history. He spent 22 of his 52 years at the Star as publisher.
HONDERICH died November 8 at his home in Vancouver following a stroke. He was 86.
In a final letter to the family read by his son John, who was publisher of the Star between 1994 and 2004, HONDERICH described his life as one "that was far from perfect, but endeavoured to make a useful contribution to society."
Others were far less humble. Political dignitaries and journalists alike remembered HONDERICH as an infallible man of enduring principles and with a steadfast commitment to Canadian society.
"I've met very few men in my public life or since who were more dedicated to this country," said former Ontario premier William DAVIS, adding that HONDERICH had "a real commitment to trying to reduce the diversity between those who have and those who have not.
"We may not have achieved all of his objectives, but it's not because he didn't provide the leadership, desire, motivation," DAVIS said. "He was a deeply committed Canadian and a very sensitive human being."
For Maithily PANCHALINGAM, that sensitivity has permanently marked her life.
A decade ago, the 28-year-old Star advertising employee learned that she had won a Honderich Scholarship award.
Then a new immigrant from Sri Lanka going through a "rough patch," the award -- for high grades and financial need -- was a chance to succeed where she might not have been able to on her own. "Just the fact that you're an immigrant, you're not going to have the right connections," she said, adding that the scholarship, combined with part-time jobs at the Star, helped her earn a degree from York University.
"He gave me a start. He made success possible for many students like me," she said.
More than anything, HONDERICH was held up last night as an advocate for those who most needed someone like him.
"I believe that he was a person who never forgot his roots, the common man, the underdog, the 'little people,'" said Frank IACOBUCCI, a former Supreme Court justice and current Torstar chairman.
"He championed the cause of the disadvantaged, minorities, equality, and fundamental freedoms of religion and of the press long before there were legislative or constitutional provisions reflecting these and other basic human values of an enlightened democracy."
The two-hour event included taped speeches from former Toronto mayor David CROMBIE, and several current and former Star editors, including former managing editor Mary Deanne SHEARS.
Using the boyish nickname he had for his elder brother, Ted HONDERICH, a London-based philosopher, delivered one of the evening's most touching tributes.
"He improved what, out of his good principle he preserved, which was the newspaper of the greatest value to his country. There was a greatness in this," he said. "Death without another life afterward did not make this life meaningless. Goodbye, B.B."
Also in attendance were Premier Dalton McGUINTY, Ontario Conservative Party Leader John TORY, former Ontario premier Bob RAE, Education Minister Gerard KENNEDY and Health Minister George SMITHERMAN

  H... Names     HO... Names     HON... Names     Welcome Home

HONDERICH - All Categories in OGSPI

HONDZIO o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-04-18 published
OSOWSKY, John▼
Suddenly, on Saturday, April 16, 2005, in his 63rd year. John, loving and dear father of Julie and her husband Gene HONDZIO, Michael and his wife Susan, and Tania. Also survived by the mother of the children, Anne. Dear brother of Adolko and his wife Cathy and their children, Adam, Sofia, Natalie, and Christina. Loving nephew of John and Maria FIRMAN. Friends▼ may call at Cardinal Funeral Home, 92 Annette Street (near Keele), on Tuesday from 2-4 and 6-9 p.m., with Panachida at 8 p.m. Funeral Wednesday at 9: 30 a.m., then to The Ukrainian Catholic Church Of The Holy Protection for Mass at 10 a.m. Interment Park Lawn Cemetery. As an expression of sympathy, donations to the Ontario Heart and Stroke Foundation would be appreciated.

  H... Names     HO... Names     HON... Names     Welcome Home

HONDZIO o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-04-19 published
OSOWSKY, John▲
Suddenly, on Saturday, April 16, 2005, in his 63rd year, John, loving and dear father of Julie and her husband Gene HONDZIO, Michael and his wife Susan, and Tania. Dear grandfather of Sophie and Emily. Also survived by the mother of the children, Anne. Dear brother of Adolko and his wife Cathy and their children, Adam, Sofia, Natalie, and Christina. Loving nephew of John and Maria FIRMAN. Friends▲ may call at Cardinal Funeral Home, 92 Annette Street on Tuesday from 2-4 and 6-9 p.m., with Panachida at 8 p.m. Funeral Wednesday at 9: 30 a.m., then to The Ukrainian Catholic Church Of The Holy Protection for Mass at 10 a.m. Interment Park Lawn Cemetery. As an expression of sympathy, donations to the Ontario Heart and Stroke Foundation would be appreciated.

  H... Names     HO... Names     HON... Names     Welcome Home

HONDZIO - All Categories in OGSPI

HONEBROOK o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-06-01 published
RYBACK, Nicholas
Our family is saddened to announce the passing of Nicholas, in his 81st year, on Monday, May 30th, 2005. Predeceased by his beloved wife Doreen and parents Peter and Annie, he leaves behind his loving daughters Mary ZETTEL (Douglas,) Nancy SARTELL (Douglas) and Susan HONEBROOK. He will be fondly remembered by his brother Dan and sister-in-law Doris. Dede will be sadly missed by grandchildren Kate, Michael, Matthew, Martin and Anna Zettel, Stephen, Colleen and Emily SARTELL, Gregory (deceased,) Andrew and Jennifer HONEBROOK. Special thanks to his caregivers at home and West Park Healthcare Centre. Friends will be received at the Ward Funeral Home, 2035 Weston Rd. (north of Lawrence Ave.), Weston, on Thursday, June 2nd from 7-9 p.m. Memorial Service in the Chapel Friday, June 3rd at 11 a.m. Remembrances may be made to the Canadian Diabetes Association.

  H... Names     HO... Names     HON... Names     Welcome Home

HONEBROOK - All Categories in OGSPI

HONEY o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2005-02-12 published
SCHMIDT, Otto Arnold (M.D., F.R.C.S.C., F.R.C.O.G., F.A.C.O.G., F.S.O.G.C.)
Our 'Dear Ole Dad' was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba on May 20, 1918 and passed away peacefully at the Royal City Manor in New Westminster, British Columbia on February 1, 2005 with his daughter at his bedside. Predeceased by his eldest son Paul (1979), our mother Annie (1992) and his beloved second wife Barbara ALLEMANG (2000), he will be lovingly remembered by son Arthur (Margaret) in Australia and daughter Carol REIMER (Garry,) grand_sons Paul and Kevin in Vancouver, and extended ALLEMANG family in Toronto: John (Patricia HOLTZ), Patricia, Elizabeth (Vicki VAN WAGNER) and Peter, and grandchildren Sam and Elizabeth, Indiana and Will, Sophie and Leo, Brooke, Cullen, and Brigid and Barbara's brother, Donald HONEY. Dad received his medical degree from the University of Manitoba in 1941. After serving overseas in the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps (1943-46), Dad returned to complete his education in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Manitoba in 1948. During his lifetime, Dad touched countless lives through his medical practice and tireless work in the community that included serving as president of the following organizations: Manitoba Medical Association, Winnipeg General Hospital Medical Staff, Family Planning Association of Manitoba and Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada. He was also a founding member of the Manitoba Medical Services Foundation and a full professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Manitoba. A loving father, role model, mentor and friend, Dad will remain in our hearts forever. Dr SCHMIDT's family wishes to gratefully acknowledge the gentle and compassionate care given by the staff at the Royal City Manor and Dr RIFE. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Alzheimer's Society. A family memorial will be held at a later date.

  H... Names     HO... Names     HON... Names     Welcome Home

HONEY o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-04-05 published
EASBY, Lucinda
Peacefully at the Peel Memorial Hospital on April 2, 2005. Lucinda, beloved wife of the late Arthur. Loving mother of Joan and her husband Harold LAMBERTUS, Sally and her husband James VIEIRA and Beverley and her husband Stephen HONEY. Dear grandmother of Kelly, Harold, Christine, Rob, Michelle, John and Katie. Lovingly remembered great-grandmother of Zachary, Jake, Josh, Mitchell, Dylan, Julia, Jenna and Shelby. Mrs. EASBY is resting at the Scott Funeral Home - Mississauga Chapel, 420 Dundas St. East (one block west of Cawthra Rd.), 905-272-4040 for visitation on Tuesday from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. A Funeral Service will be held on Wednesday afternoon, April 6, 2005 at 1 o'clock in the chapel. Cremation to follow. If desired, memorial donations to the Alzheimer Society or the Parkinson Society would be greatly appreciated.

  H... Names     HO... Names     HON... Names     Welcome Home

HONEY o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-06-25 published
HONEY, Winifred H.
Peacefully, at York Central Hospital, Palliative Care Unit, on Thursday, June 23, 2005, at the age of 94. Beloved wife of the late Cecil. Loving mother of Pauline Fallis and her husband Ron. Adored grandma of Stephen GRENKIE and his wife Rhonda, and John GRENKIE and his wife Tanya. Great-grandma of Victoria, Jared, Kaitlyn, Jake, and Jeffrey. Friends may call at the Turner and Porter Yorke Chapel, 2357 Bloor St. W., at Windermere, east of the Jane subway, on Sunday from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. Funeral Service will be held in the Chapel on Monday, June 27, 2005 at 1: 00 p.m. If desired, donations to the Canadian Blind Mission or York Central Hospital Foundation would be appreciated.

  H... Names     HO... Names     HON... Names     Welcome Home

HONEY - All Categories in OGSPI

HONEYFORD o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2005-07-18 published
HOLMES, Gerald W.
It is with heavy hearts and great sorrow that the family of Gerald W. HOLMES of Clinton, announces his passing on Saturday, July 16, 2005 at the Clinton Public Hospital, after a long battle with cancer in his 72nd year. He was the beloved husband for 49 years to Donna (KING.) Dear father of Greg and his wife Susan of Mississauga and Karen of Clinton. Very proud grandfather of Andrew, Michael, Sarah and Rachel. Dear son of the late Ethel (HONEYFORD, 1972) and Russell HOLMES (1977.) Dear brother of Jack and Nancy HOLMES of Clinton and brother-in-law of John and Barbara DABBS of Hamilton. Also missed by nieces and nephews, Dan and Cemile HOLMES of Washington, D.C., Jeff and Mary YONCHUS of Guelph, Marge HOLMES of Clinton, Mike and Sue McKAGUE of Ancaster, Jeff DABBS of Hamilton, Chris and Tracy DABBS of Vancouver, and 5 great nephews and 2 great nieces.
He owned and operated Fairholme Dairy for many years. He was a past master of Clinton Lodge Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons No. 84. Gerald was also a member of the Scottish Rite and was an honourary member of the Director's Staff of Mocha Temple, London. The family will receive Friends at the Falconer Funeral Homes Ltd, 153 High Street, Clinton, on Tuesday from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. A celebration of life service will be held at Ontario Street United Church on Wednesday, July 20, 2005 at 2 p.m. Reverend Janet FRADETTE will officiate with Bob ELLIOT/ELLIOTT assisting. Cremation. Memorial donations may be made to the Clinton Public Hospital Foundation or the Shriners Hospitals for Children as expressions of sympathy. A memorial service will be held by the Clinton Masonic Lodge Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons No. 84 on Tuesday at 9 p.m.

  H... Names     HO... Names     HON... Names     Welcome Home

HONEYFORD - All Categories in OGSPI

HON surnames continued to 05hon002.htm