RIP Jame “JR” Reid, a CFNY Spirit of Radio Personality

When I first arrived at CFNY on October 3, 1986, it was about noon. One of the first people I was introduced to was JR, the midday announcer. He was warm and welcoming and, frankly, I intimidated by how well he knew the CFNY’s 20,000 album library.

This was back in the day when all CFNY people had to pick their own records. There were some basic rules about that, but for the most part, the DJ called the shots. JR, for example, decided one day that he was only going to pick songs from artists with names that began with the letter C. He took it as a challenge. Could you create engaging, nicely flowing sets of music with that self-imposed restriction? JR could.

Jim lost his CFNY job in 1988 as part of a restructing during one of the station’s many budget crises. But our paths would cross occasionally in the following years after he changed careers. You’ll see him in the upcoming CFNY Spirit of Radio documentary that’s due later this year. He was a lovely, gentle man.

Sometime over the while, JR was diagnosed with leukemia. He fought against it for as long as he could, but it became too much and earlier this year, he decided to stop all treatment. He died last Friday.

Here’s the obituary from the Toronto Star.

REID, JAMES April 19, 1950 – April 12, 2024 James Reid passed away peacefully, after a short illness. Survived by his wife, Pauline; sons, Michael and Adam; sisters, Jean and Heather; and by his brothers-in-law, Greg, Kevin, and Peter. Also, by his nieces and nephews, Erin (Jared), Jonathan (Ku’ulei), Fiona (Dan), Nicholas and Matthew; as well as his great-nieces and nephews. He will be remembered by many family members and friends and his best dog friend, Allie.

Jim was most passionate about music and the highlight of his career was working at the beginning of CFNY 102.1, in the little yellow house in Brampton during the original Spirit of Radio era. As we keep him in our thoughts, these are some words from one of his favourite songs by Todd Rundgren, “Light of the World, Shine on me. Love is the answer Shine on us all. Set us free. Love is the answer.”

A Celebration of Life will be held on Friday, April 19th, from 6-9 p.m. at the Glen Erin Inn (located at 1695 The Collegeway, Mississauga). We are grateful for the care and support that was provided by Dr. Manjy and the dedicated nursing staff at Credit Valley Hospital. In lieu of flowers, we would welcome donations to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada.

JR joins Pete Griffin, James Scott, Peter Goodwin, Don Berns, Martin Streek, Skip Prokop, and so others from the classic CFNY days who are no longer with us.

(Photo credit: Toronto Mike)