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Thompson: The Lloyd Robertson I'll remember

When Canadians think of Lloyd Robertson, they'll remember the reassuring voice that guided the country.

When Canadians think of Lloyd Robertson, they’ll remember the reassuring voice that guided the country through elections, royal visits, celebrations and tragedies.

They’ll remember one of the greatest broadcasters this country has ever produced.

Thompson: The Lloyd Robertson I'll remember Back to video

I’ll remember the man who took the time to help a nervous high school student from Stratford.

Lloyd and I shared more than a profession.

We shared a hometown.

We both attended Stratford Central secondary school, although Lloyd graduated long before I did from what was then Stratford Collegiate Institute. We both began our broadcasting careers at CJCS Radio in Stratford, one of Canada’s oldest radio stations and an unlikely launching pad for generations of broadcasters.

Like so many who found their way into journalism, I looked up to him long before I ever met him.

That opportunity came in 1978 or 1979. As a student at Stratford Central, I was producing a documentary to mark the school’s 100th anniversary. It seemed like an impossible dream, but I wondered if Lloyd Robertson might narrate it. Through my vice-principal, John Miller, the request somehow found its way to Lloyd.

To my amazement, he said yes.

So, one day, I drove my father’s 1975 AMC Gremlin from Stratford to CTV’s studios in Agincourt with a massive reel-to-reel tape recorder from the school’s audiovisual department loaded into the back.

I walked into the newsroom more than a little intimidated. Here I was, a high school student from Stratford, about to meet the man who anchored the national news. Instead, Lloyd welcomed me as though helping a teenager with a school documentary was the most natural thing in the world.

He sat down........

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