Stan Carew planned to leave the highly rated show he had hosted since 1997 at the end of September to devote himself to music.Graham Breeze
Each weekend morning, Stan Carew used his microphone to invite radio listeners across the Maritimes to join him in what often felt like a personal conversation. That lively chat was intermixed with playful interactions with imaginary friends, neighs from his trusty sidekick and an unpredictable selection of eclectic music.
Mr. Carew, the popular host of CBC Radio's Weekend Mornings for 18 years, aired his last show on June 28. He was joined by Doug Barron, known on the show as "Deputy Doug," and his other trusty sidekick, Duke the Studio Stallion. Just over a week later, on July 6, Mr. Carew died at his Halifax home after slipping into a diabetic coma. He was 64.
Having spent close to five decades in radio, the majority of them with the CBC, Mr. Carew announced his retirement in May. He planned to leave the highly rated show he had hosted since 1997 at the end of September to devote himself to music. He planned to criss-cross the Maritimes as a "travelling minstrel," playing benefit concerts and writing music.
"I've thought long and hard about it and in light of the recent cutbacks here at CBC, I've decided it's time for me to give up the best job I've ever had," he said on-air in May.
"Listeners felt so connected to him and the show," said Mr. Barron, the show's associate producer and technician. "Radio was his life."
Tributes poured in during the shows on July 11 and 12. One caller from Chester, N.S., recalled fondly how Mr. Carew always spoke highly of the often-vilified dandelion plant. During the caller's daily morning walks, she would pick a dandelion and think of him. In his memory, she requested the Rolling Stones song Dandelion.
"He was a performer," said friend and former broadcaster Costas Halavrezos. "When he was in public he just shone. He just gave it his all."
With an actor's control of his voice, he loved creating characters such as "Patchy Frost," a fictional Maritime country singer from the 1940s, whose name was based on an Environment Canada phrase used in weather reports. Radio listeners played along and called saying they heard Patchy play at a New Brunswick Legion.
One of the highlights of Weekend Mornings was when Mr. Carew pretended he was reporting live from a music festival in Nova Scotia. Using sound effects and fabricated live reports from the various music stages, he had listeners believing that Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead were playing.
"That was a real blast," Mr. Barron said. "Some people were mad, wanting to know why they didn't know that Bob Dylan was in Nova Scotia."
While he could be reclusive and cranky away from the microphone, Mr. Carew had a knack for drawing in and engaging listeners over the airwaves, especially elderly people. One of his favourites was a listener named Isabelle. When she turned 96, he called to wish her a happy birthday on air. She was thrilled.
Mr. Carew was also passionate about music and giving airplay to the next generation. Early on in the career of Maritimes roots music performer David Myles, Mr. Carew played his songs frequently, giving him valuable exposure.
"He was devoted to playing local artists," his brother, Eugene Carew, said. "I'm not sure which love came first, radio or music."
Born in Halifax on Aug. 7, 1950, Stan Carew was the youngest of four children. His father, Eugene, was a sailor and no one in the family was known to have much musical talent. It wasn't until Stan Carew was in his 20s that he learned his first instrument, the mandolin.
He briefly attended Saint Mary's University in Halifax. But after spending too much time playing cards in the student union building, he dropped out at age 17. His father got him a summer job with the Coast Guard. He travelled aboard the CCGS Narwhal to Sable Island and Canada's Eastern Arctic.
In the fall of 1968, Halifax station CHNS needed someone to train as an operator. He got his first job in radio, placing the needle on records. From there he went on to work at various private stations, including CKBW in Bridgewater, N.S., CKEC in New Glasgow, N.S., and Q104 in Halifax.
While working as a disc jockey at Q104, he caused a stir when he left the radio booth mid-broadcast after the station announced it was automating. On the air, he asked listeners the rhetorical question: "How many DJs does it take to run a radio show?" "None," he answered, and he walked out with his microphone still on.
"Dead air followed," Mr. Barron said. "The story is a legend among radio people. The joke was that he was told, 'You'll never work in this town again.'" Before long, he landed in the host's chair at Weekend Mornings.
Mr. Carew's relationship with the CBC began in 1979, when he joined CBC Saint John as an on-air host.
"He seemed reserved, even guarded. But when the on-air light turned red, he turned on 50,000 watts of talent. I couldn't believe it was the same person," Mr. Halavrezos recalled.
Mr. Carew later headed to Toronto and spent seven years as a CBC Radio network announcer working on local shows such as Metro Morning. He was also the host of the network shows The Entertainers and Prime Time, and was frequently heard on national newscasts.
As an actor, Mr. Carew made appearances in dozens of film and television productions, including Trudeau and Trailer Park Boys. He was also the off-camera voice for CBC Television's This Hour Has 22 Minutes.
Mr. Carew released four albums, starting in 1997. Before disbanding in 2012, he and his band the Magpies performed benefit concerts raising money for everything from new community centres to artistic organizations. More recently he played with blues musician John Campbelljohn and English folk duo Graham Breeze and Toby Wilson.
Suffering from myriad health issues, Mr. Carew went public with his mental illness in 2014. "I was recently diagnosed as bipolar. It used to be called manic depression," he told listeners, many of whom later called in with stories of their own struggles. "I knew I was prone to depression, although I was 40 years old before I recognized it for what it was. The manic side I mistook for, 'Isn't this how life is supposed to feel?'"
Having been married and divorced twice, Mr. Carew lived alone in recent years. "I'm not going to regret the 4:45 a.m. alarm, but I am going to miss talking to you, and listening to you on Saturday and Sunday mornings," he told listeners after announcing his retirement.
Mr. Carew leaves his brother, Eugene; sisters Margaret and Sheila; five nephews and 10 great-nieces and great-nephews.