Obituaries

Christopher Murray Burt, and he was the Winnipeg Free Press managing editor when I started in 1979. He was always Murray and never Mr. Burt to everyone in the building. I would meet him often on his daily trek up the narrow, well worn, marble stairway, 4 floors to that historic newsroom. He was like an admiral, and the “Press” was his warship, a wood and sails tall ship. He would be it’s last admiral. Make no mistake it was no longer a local family business competition, it was corporate war. It was his war, a circulation war and there would only be one winner. He was absolutely determined to win. He was the right person at the right time. It was about determination and like naval warfare it was weather, logistics, manoeuvering, with ships of the line firing full broadsides a at key moment. In the end it came down to money losing vs. money making. The “Press,” always made money. He was friendly, hard, controversial and principled as much a daily business would allow. It was a scrappy edgy ,business that depended on daily quarters,both coin and yearly. His Free Press was in the business of business. He was as scrappy and edgy as they come. With an old school heart, new school instincts, he was more Murdoch than Thomson. Murray wasn’t always right,but he was never wrong. He was fortunate to have one foot in the heavy traditions of newspapers and the other in a new uncertain future he would actively drag forward. Figuratively the business was a street fight and he was up for the task. The “Old Lady of Carlton Street,” was getting a full make over. The newspaper business was emerging from the from the age of wood and sail, and he began the the age of forever change, managing a new six column format, fresh columnists, feature writers and pictures. He was never totally sold on pictures. It was a big young newsroom with two soft ball teams and many fresh ideas. His tall ship would set record profits and create the framework for a new building on Mountain Ave. and the next global battle in the digital age. He often said he wouldn’t take credit for hiring me. I never really knew how to take that. There was always and edge to him. The first question he asked me when I applied for a job was about my curriculum vitae. I had no idea what he was talking about. Then he corrected some spelling mistakes on my application. BUT, I was hired, and he did ask me to photograph his daughters wedding. I met him a few years ago at Jeffery’s Barber Shop, recognizing his Kiwi accent sitting in the chair next to me, we had a good conversation about current affairs. It was a final good memory. I have fond memories of him, that competitive culture he created and that special time of newspaper resurgence. Ken Gigliotti WFP photographer retired.

Sorry for your troubles, Elizabeth and family. Murray was night editor at the Globe and Mail when I worked there the summer of 1973. I've always been grateful for how he treated me, a young woman just out of university and a term as president of Canadian University Press. He teased me gently (about my politics, I suspect) and helped improve my writing. I have a vague recollection of speaking to him in Winnipeg in the 1980s, confirming my sense of his commitment to good journalism. Some years ago, I found a picture on-line of the Globe news desk from 1970, with Murray up front, easily recognised by his black rimmed glasses and his big smile. Still have it and happy to share.