Peter Herrndorff, an influential Canadian journalist and news programmer who later headed the National Arts Center in Ottawa, has died at the age of 82.
Matthew Herrndorf said his father died Saturday morning at a Toronto hospital surrounded by family. The cause was cancer.
“He had a big and productive and important life, and [it’s] It’s hard to put into words what it meant to us and what it meant to Canada,” said Matthew Herrndorf. The Canadian Press on Saturday.
Herrndorf joined the CBC in Winnipeg in 1965, eventually becoming vice president, where he helped develop the long-running series. The Fifth Estate And Journal.
He later served as publisher of Toronto Life magazine as well as chairman and CEO of TVO.
Then, in 1999, he began a nearly 19-year tenure as president and CEO of the National Arts Center (NAC), where he also helped establish the National Arts Center Foundation and its local theater department.
Christopher Deacon said that what tied this varied and storied career together was Herrndorf’s passion for storytelling.
“Whether it was a big story that carried the evening news or a story that captivated 2,000 people watching an opera or a play, the throughline was the way we communicated, found meaning. To do, and tell stories to share that meaning. Community,” Deacon told the CBC on Saturday.
Herrndorf assumed leadership of the National Arts Center in 1999. (Fred Chartrand/The Canadian Press)
Calling Herrndorf a “brilliant” arts administrator, Deacon said she is perhaps most notable for her friendliness and openness. He pointed to Herndorff’s daily routine of rubbing shoulders with everyone from stagehands to performers in the NAC’s “green room,” or mess hall.
“He saw it as an intersection where everyone met on equal terms,” Deacon said. “I was very pleased to see how he did it. Peter used social skills to advance the institution’s agenda.”
Fond of deep conversation
Steve Pekin, host of TVO’s flagship current affairs program; Agendasaid he owed much of his long career at TVO to Herrndorf and would miss Herrndorf’s penchant for “deep conversation”.
“He gave me one of the best lines once,” Paiken told CBC.
“He said, ‘If I want my senses to be touched by an exciting sporting event, I’ll take my son to a basketball game. But if I want to know what’s going on in my daughter’s life. It’s happening, I’ll take it. A baseball game.”
When the NAC Orchestra toured the UK in 2014, Herrndorf was seen performing here in London. (Fred Catterroll/National Arts Center)
Pekin also praised Herndorff’s open-door policy, referring to the “Chairman’s Breakfast” where everyone was invited to share their ideas.
“The one thing you never had to worry about when Peter Herrndorf was at the helm,” Pekin said, “is whether he cares. “He was a real renaissance man: journalism, the arts. , culture.”
First journalism, then arts
Herrndorf was born in Amsterdam, raised in Winnipeg, and graduated from the University of Manitoba in 1962 with a degree in political science and English. He later studied law at Dalhousie University and earned a Masters in Administration from Harvard Business School, his biography is on the NAC website. said.
He told the CBC his parents moved to Winnipeg from Europe after World War II. Sunday edition In a wide-ranging interview in 2018, shortly after his exit from NAC.
“Part of how I learned to be Canadian was by reading Canadian books. [and] listening to CBC radio,” he said.
listen Herrndorf looks back on his storied life and career in 2018:
Sunday edition37:36Peter Herrndorf on his illustrious career in the arts
As he prepares to leave the National Arts Centre, Peter Herrndorf talks about the rewards of a life in the arts, how he won funding from governments of all stripes, and why the CBC broke his heart.
Herrndorf started at the CBC as a reporter in Winnipeg. He eventually climbed the corporate ladder almost to the top, serving as vice president and general manager of English Radio and Television from 1979 to 1983.
He was involved in the development of such programs. The Fifth Estate, 90 Minutes Live And Journaland it also carried the national TV news from 11 to 10 p.m.
“Peter Herrndorff’s influence and passion for Canada’s public broadcaster was profound,” Chuck Thompson, CBC’s head of public affairs, said in an emailed statement. “Beyond his enormous influence on programming, he made a difference in so many careers and always with kindness, wisdom and a wonderful spirit.”
Herrndorf sat on the boards of dozens of arts organizations over the years. (CBC)
Mark Starowicz, who executive produced. Journal During Herrndorf’s time at the CBC, said many Canadians had probably never heard of Herrndorf.
“But he made our lives what we saw on television in his greatest years and through the tireless collaboration of singers, writers, poets, orchestras and theater,” Starowicz said. “He was one of the greatest defenders and champions of Canadian culture of his generation.”
At TVO, Herrndorf helped the station shed its reputation at the time as “a very instructional type of teacher’s aide in the classroom,” Paikin said.
“He’s the guy who said TVO needs to be in the business of doing public affairs programming every day, in prime time, live every evening. And that’s what we did.”
“I will cherish his last letter,” says the artistic director.
During his career, Herrndorf sat on the boards of nearly 60 arts organizations, ranging from the National Magazine Awards to the Stratford Shakespearean Festival.
Stratford’s artistic director, Antoni Cimolino, said Herrndorf was a tireless clipper of articles he sent to friends.
“I will treasure his last letter to me just a month ago. There words of encouragement will live on in my heart,” Cimolino said via email.
In 1999, when she took over the leadership of the NAC, one of North America’s only bilingual performing arts centers, Herrndorf had a deep love for the arts and a Rolodex.
“When we traveled across Canada, he had roots in many Canadian cities. He obviously built bridges wherever he worked,” Deacon said.
He was there when the late Queen Elizabeth visited the NAC in 2010. (Canadian Press)
In addition to the NAC Foundation and its local theater department, Deacon credits Herndorff with creating the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards, the National Creation Fund, which supports the production of new works across the country, and overseeing the NAC’s Cine Festival. Is. The center celebrated the culture and arts of different parts of Canada.
“Any one of those would be enough to distinguish one’s career,” Deacon said. “The fact that he has half a dozen on his record just sets him apart.”
Herrndorff was awarded the Order of Ontario in 2008 for “revolutionizing Canadian broadcasting, publishing and the performing arts” in the various organizations where he served.
In 2017 he was promoted to the highest rank of the Order of Canada for his “visionary leadership” in Canada’s cultural scene.
He later received the Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award from former Governor General Julie Piatt during the 2018 Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards at Rideau Hall in Ottawa.
NAC flags will fly at half-mast throughout February in his honor, the organization said in a news release.