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Class Notes
UPDATES FROM ALUMNI ON PERSONAL & PROFESSIONAL MILESTONES
1960s
Ron Johnson
Business Administration ’65 He recalls: “My Political Science professor David Crombie ran for city alderman for the first time in mid-semester. He established the most important issues of the day and ran a long, hard campaign, promising to try and solve them all. The day after the election, in our class, David changed the planned subject to ‘The Fallacies and Problems of Our Democratic System of Government.’ He was one great professor.” Ron says his favourite place while at Ryerson was Steele’s Tavern, where then-newcomer Gordon Lightfoot was a regular singer. Ron is now retired, living in Virginia, volunteering at Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest, and researching American Civil War stories.
Donald Kerr
Radio and Television Arts (RTA) ’61 Don, who retired after working as a reporter at both CKEY Radio and the Toronto Telegram, and later in the Ontario government, recently published two memoirs, From A Fishing Guide’s Notebook and Memories of a Country Doctor and His Family.
1970s
Ted Barris
RTA ’71
He writes: “I have a long connection with Ryerson. My father Alex Barris taught in RTA, my sister and my wife are both RTA grads.” Ted published a book last fall, titled Dam Busters: Canadian Airmen and the Secret Raid Against Nazi Germany. Ted explains that while the Dam Busters story is famous and a movie was made in 1955, most accounts omit the Canadian involvement – a quarter of the aircrew on the raid were Canadian. “What’s more, the successful breaching of the Ruhr River dams that night in 1943 was due in large measure to the aircrew training, done principally in Canada (of 133 airmen in the raid, 56 trained here).”
Mark Bonokoski
Journalism ’72
Mark is a national columnist for Sun Media who was inducted into the Canadian News Hall of Fame in November 2017. He started at the Toronto Sun in 1974, and now comments on politics for the Postmediaowned newspaper chain. His numerous awards and recognition include the 2004 National Newspaper Award for column writing.
Neill Fearnley
RTA ’76
Neill has enjoyed a 40-year career freelance directing drama and television movies, for which he has earned numerous awards and nominations, including five Emmy nominations for directing. He is currently an executive producer and director on When Calls the Heart, and director of Garage Sale Mysteries.
Ed Hartwick
Industrial Engineering ’72
After various positions in industrial, mechanical and project engineering, Ed started his own manufacturing company in the early 1980s, bringing products to the Canadian market from the United States. He retired in 2006. Ed currently enjoys time with family and friends, doing photography, writing poetry and singing acapellastyle harmony.
42 Ryerson University Magazine / Winter 2019
