Alan Fotheringham

Obituaries for folks in the entertainment world that have come to the end of the road.

Alan Fotheringham

Postby cart_machine » Wed Aug 19, 2020 1:13 pm

Here's a CP obit.
TORONTO — Columnist and author Allan Fotheringham, known for his biting satirical commentaries aimed at the rich and the powerful, died Wednesday at his home in Toronto. He was 87.

https://www.kamloopsthisweek.com/satiri ... 1.24188870

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Re: Alan Fotheringham

Postby talker2002@gmail.com » Wed Aug 19, 2020 4:23 pm

Holy, Dr. Foth! What sad news.
Allan Fotheringham was unlike observers of his day and those since. His columns, editorials and magazine pages made sense, friends and critics. Usually with a smile. He soldiered on regardless.
Condolences to those he leaves behind.
RIP Allan.
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Re: Allan Fotheringham

Postby cart_machine » Wed Aug 19, 2020 7:02 pm

Damn. Ignore the missing 'l' in the original subject header.
Did he do any radio, besides maybe guest stops on the CBC?

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Re: Alan Fotheringham

Postby the-real-deal » Thu Aug 20, 2020 3:24 am

When I was breaking into the news business, circa 1982, it was hard to avoid Alan Fotheringham.

He was like the Sun at high noon; omniescent, as in everywhere ? He was a darling of (the then powerful) newspaper and magazine business and they paid him well to write anything that he wanted. Very few of us in media, either then or now, get that career opportunity to reach millions of people.

For example, he was a big shot columnist with MacLean's magazine, wrote a syndicated newspaper column for Southam News, coast to coast, and appeared, every week, on CBC's Front Page Challenge., a very popular show with the older foggies crowd, back then.

Foth made the owners of newspapers, back then, very wealthy people and he also became wealthy, perhaps one of Canada's best paid journalists.

I was not jealous at all, as I watched Front Page Challenge, actually, and I also read his stuff, like millions of other Canadians.

What I resented about the guy, though, was him being part of that exclusive club, the so-called Toronto media establishment elite, in which all of those participants (such as Dick Smythe, Pierre Berton, etc,) were exalted as somehow important, even though their Ontario view of the world was sometimes arrogant and or jaded.

For many of those Toronto media types, the Sun and Moon seemed to circle only around Toronto and the planets stopped revolving somewhere near Mississauga ? (or so they thought).

Anything west of Mississauga was (and still is?) considered irrelevant.

Well, that's bullshit and mostly a falsehood, a bullshit lie, that you Toronto media types buy into ?

Not me.

I have done media, now, in four Canadian time zones and the job of a newsman can be just as rewarding in other parts of Canada, in addition to Toronto.

I have radio friends who had a bigger "star" than myself and they enjoyed their day in the Sun.

I'm just not a big city media type and never have been.

The problem with the Toronto media intervening in our lives is still a major concern, even with Foth's passing on and will not end with the demise of Fotheringham. As news departments across Canada continue to get cut back to the bone for various reasons (Covid 19, lack of advertising revenue, etc) Canadian rural communities, in particular, are increasingly getting starved of local news. Instead, they receive a) American satellite news, or b) Toronto news, traffic, and weather, instead of locally produced news and sports shows and people, of course, tuned out years ago.

That all said, I am glad to hear that Foth's wife is apparently a very classy woman and planned her husband's final birthday celebration in advance of his demise, and to go out like that, on a high note, shows a lot of class and is a good example for many Canadian families, actually.
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Re: Alan Fotheringham

Postby Heard It On The X » Fri Aug 21, 2020 10:34 pm

It’s easy to sniff at Fotheringham as just another member of the Toronto media elite.
Except he wasn’t.
Before he was the back page columnist in Maclean’s and a panelist on Front Page Challenge, he made his bones in British Columbia — going from the Ubyssey to the Chilliwack Progress to the Vancouver Sun.
Along with Marjorie Nichols and Jack Webster, he was a part of a fearsome BC triumvirate. His passing means the closing of the book on that era of journalism in this province.
Rest well, Dr. Foth. And thank you.
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Re: Alan Fotheringham

Postby the-real-deal » Sat Aug 22, 2020 8:50 pm

Heard It On The X wrote:It’s easy to sniff at Fotheringham as just another member of the Toronto media elite.
Except he wasn’t.
Before he was the back page columnist in Maclean’s and a panelist on Front Page Challenge, he made his bones in British Columbia — going from the Ubyssey to the Chilliwack Progress to the Vancouver Sun.
Along with Marjorie Nichols and Jack Webster, he was a part of a fearsome BC triumvirate. His passing means the closing of the book on that era of journalism in this province.
Rest well, Dr. Foth. And thank you.


Whether he made his name here in B.C. or in Toronto, should it matter.

This site is dedicated to the Western Canadian radio business, its' happenings, etc.

Why is an "inked stained" wretch like Fotheringham being feted and lauded, here ?

How about Dear Abby, Ann Landers, and Dr. W. Gifford Jones. Should we fete them, here, as well.

To my knowledge, Foth never worked a day in radio, nor even cared about our business.

Some of us do still care, however.
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Re: Alan Fotheringham

Postby paterson » Sun Aug 23, 2020 6:04 am

Fotheringham was on television for years and this site does deal with and talk about other media such as television, internet, newspapers, film etc. and how they relate to broadcasting. There is even a category called On The Small Screen, another called Canada and US Radio and TV News.

Ink stained wretch? Oh, how original! Looking for your 5 seconds of fame for being outrageous? We have absolutely no idea what Fotheringham's opinion of radio was, but he did appear as a guest on various radio talk shows in his career.

Claiming to still care about radio does not include putting others especially a dead man down. Why not do a little research before posting?
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Re: Alan Fotheringham

Postby the-real-deal » Sun Aug 23, 2020 2:19 pm

paterson wrote:Fotheringham was on television for years and this site does deal with and talk about other media such as television, internet, newspapers, film etc. and how they relate to broadcasting. There is even a category called On The Small Screen, another called Canada and US Radio and TV News.

Ink stained wretch? Oh, how original! Looking for your 5 seconds of fame for being outrageous? We have absolutely no idea what Fotheringham's opinion of radio was, but he did appear as a guest on various radio talk shows in his career.

Claiming to still care about radio does not include putting others especially a dead man down. Why not do a little research before posting?


Research what ? I'm no fan of newspapers, if you have already guessed.

Paterson: Are you the same bitter, retired "Kelowna" old man Paterson with one t; LOL a jealous, failed broadcaster (or wannabe broadcaster) who has always tried to put me down in previous posts. If so, no one has bought your bullsh*t, yet ? That's because you are a failed old geezer and broadcaster ?

Just because Fotheringham appeared on radio as a talk show host doesn't mean he actually worked in radio. I suggested that he never did work in radio, ever !

Therefore, I fail to see the relevance of feting a newspaper columnist on this radio forum.

Which is my main point. Let's keep this board about RADIO, and not about newspaper losers.

As far as "looking for my five seconds of fame," well, I have been working in the business for close to 40 years, now, (I still work in the business) and fame was never on my mind, to be honest.

Let's face it. The whole newspaper industry (as we know it) is about to go "tits up" and will hopefully jump into the grave with Fotheringham.

Since you live in Kelowna, have you ever read the local Kelowna Daily Courier and or the Kelowna Capital News, lately.

Both of them are WOEFULLY THIN, maybe 10 pages, at best, some editions ?

i once subscribed to the Kelowna Daily Courier and their Weekend edition when it was THICK. (like 50 or more pages) but now, it's embarrasingly thin.

They SUCK when it comes to local news content, as well, with a proliferation of CP wire stories (mostly produced from Toronto, of course).

Their display advertising sucks, too, in addition to being horribly overpriced and expensive and also, nobody reads their effing rags.

They don't publish press releases, when emailed to them, the editor of the Courier hides behind his voicemail, the sports department is inept and or nonexistent and the publisher is an evasive, "acting publisher".

No wonder Kelowna newspapers are going the way of the dodo bird ! LOL

Do your research, Paterson ("with one t") !
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