Stacy – some of our viewers might remember ed’s claim to literary fame – his book – men are from mars – ed is from castor (alberta) – but this book pales when compared to this one – a family memoir put together by ed’s relatives.
“Her entire family did a massive reunion back in the mid-80’s” explains Ed Bain, about the book in his hands, “and two of the family members researched all of this and put together this book.”
It’s a fascinating journal of his mother’s family tree.
“That’s my mum, with the gun, in the boat” he says, as he points to one of the pictures.
“It’s an odd sight, because she’s not really the gun toting type” he adds, with a smile on his face.
Ed’s mother’s family came from France, to farm land offered free by the government, in Duck Lake, Saskatchewan.
“Very difficult land to do anything with” he points out.
“They ended up planting several hundred maple trees I think, and that’s how they kinda got by somehow.”
The family later moved to rural Alberta.
“My father’s side emigrated from Ireland, so they ended up running a dairy farm in a very small, rural part of Alberta called Neutral Hills, which is just outside my hometown of Castor, Alberta, which [itself] is extremely small.”
His grandmother came from England in 1912. And talk about missing the boat!
“She had been booked on the Titanic, and somehow got waylaid, and late, and missed that, and ended up having to come over several weeks later, thankfully, of course, or I would not be able to tell you this story today!”
His parents met at a church dance in Castor, and married in 1947. Ed has two older sisters, and two younger.
After graduation, Ed worked in radio in small town Saskatchewan, then Regina, then Saskatoon. In 1985, his Saskatoon boss bought a radio station on the lower mainland, and asked if he’d like to move to BC.
“It didn’t take very long to make that decision when someone said ‘I don’t think it snowed even once last year’ I said, really? Sign me up. I’m here!”
100.3 the Q wooed him to Victoria in 1987, and he’s been delighting island radio and television audiences every since.
Veronica Cooper
