We lost a great one yesterday: Jim O'Connell, a veteran journalist, respected news anchor, and much-beloved coworker to those of us at BNN who are only now starting to absorb the terrible news of his passing at the too-young age of 48. This was a man who ran marathons in Antarctica...how many of us could do that?Jim worked throughout the '80s and '90s for CTV News, reporting out of Ottawa, Winnipeg, Toronto and internationally in Washington, London, and the Middle East. He was also correspondent for CTV's "W-Five".
He didn't want a fuss, reportedly, so I'll point you to the details here. My sincere condolences to his family and friends and I must say my weekdays won't be the same without him, as he and I were there on launch day waaay back in September of 1999 and often shared the odd quip about our Ottawa Valley days. His all-too-rare qualities--integrity and professionalism at all costs, but tempered with a serene perspective on life and career and a wry sense of humour--have certainly touched us all...
He didn't want a fuss, reportedly, so I'll point you to the details here. My sincere condolences to his family and friends and I must say my weekdays won't be the same without him, as he and I were there on launch day waaay back in September of 1999 and often shared the odd quip about our Ottawa Valley days. His all-too-rare qualities--integrity and professionalism at all costs, but tempered with a serene perspective on life and career and a wry sense of humour--have certainly touched us all...
