~ A Canadian of
Interest ~
(written
by Jill Buchner...published in Canadian Living magazine)
For CBC News Chief
correspondent Peter Mansbridge,
some
of the best lessons happen outside the classroom.
It's hard to picture Peter Mansbridge as a kid, dodging his homework
and dressing in T-shirts instead of ties. But the CBC News Chief
correspondent is first to admit he hasn't always been the model of
intellectual enlightenment.
“I
was a very average student,” says Peter who attended high school in
Ottawa. “ I spent more time looking outside the window than inside
the classroom.” Without the marks for university, his education
ended after grade 12. He went on to join the navy, but admits he
didn't apply himself there. He withdrew from the 7-year program
after only 2 years, choosing to leave with an honourary discharge.
“I
was sort of lost at sea,” he says. “I didn't want to come back
home, because it was such an admission of failure, so I bounced
around Western Canada for a while.” He landed a job with a small
airline that took him to Winnipeg and Brandon, Manitoba...Prince
Albert, Saskatchewan...and finally Churchill, Manitoba where he
worked a variety of jobs, from gassing airplanes to collecting
tickets. “I was 19 and carefree and enjoying the world.”
One
day in 1968 while on cargo duty, he was asked to announce a flight
over the PA system. “It was something like, Trans
Air Flight106 for Thompson, Winnipeg now ready for boarding,”
he recalls. As the passengers filed toward the door, one walked
straight toward Peter. “You've got a really good voice. Have you
ever thought of being in radio?” asked the man. “I thought he was
joking,” says Peter. “I had never thought about broadcasting; it
never even crossed my mind.”
That man, the manager of Churchill's CBC Northern Service station,
wanted to hire Peter for a late-night radio show. He took the job.
“Frankly, if I had said no, he would have offered it to the next
person he heard. But, as it turned out, Peter was a perfect fit. “At
that point in my life, I'd had all these opportunities that I had not
handled well...whether it was school...the possibility of going to
university...or the navy.”
It was Peter who took the initiative to start the station's first
newscast shortly after he was hired. “I was fascinated by news
and grew up in a family where we talked about current events all the
time.” From that job in Churchill, he gradually moved up the ranks
at CBC.
Today,
Peter Mansbridge is the authority for keeping Canadians informed
about international and national issues. We have come to trust that
soothing, steadfastly serious baritone to deliver news on everything
from politics to natural disasters. While it's hard to get over the
irony
that it was his voice, not his education or skill that
landed him such an important job. Peter says he owes a lot to
real-world
learning...constant discussion...and curiosity. “That's
what journalism is all about. You ask questions...challenge
assumptions...tell people what you've learned,” he says.
Though
he gets strange looks when he tells journalism students his unique
story, he stands by the belief that formal
education is only part of the equation. Education is extremely
important! Life Experience is important as well.
Some of Peter's early lessons came from moving around the
world...thanks to having a military father, who also stressed that
success
in life depended upon finishing school.
As
a journalist, Peter loves constantly learning about the world. While
he's had the opportunity to interview major politicians and religious
leaders, the
most eye-opening lessons come from ordinary people caught in
extraordinary circumstances!
Peter has been sharing his stories with Canadians for the past 46
years. He knows one thing to be true:
“We
never know enough.
We're never familiar enough with our own institutions
and the challenges that face our country.
We never know enough about the world.”
Confessions from the Intellects
with gratitude to Dilu for the following:
Bill
Gates: I
didn't even complete my university education
Tom
Cruize: I
was a dyslexic kid.
Lionel
Messi: I
used to serve tea at a shop to support my football training.
Steve
Jobs: I
used to sleep on the floor in friends' rooms, returning Coke bottles
for food, money and getting weekly free meals at a local temple.
Tony
Blair: My
teachers used to call me a failure.
Nelson
Mandela: I
was in prison for 27 years.
Sharukh
Khan (Bollywood
Actor):
I
slept on benches and every day borrowed 20R's from friend to travel
to film city.
Michell
Jordan: During
my secondary school, I was dropped from my school basketball team.
Amitabh
Bacchan: I
was rejected for the job in 'All India Radio' because of my heavy
voice.
Dhirubhai
Ambani (richest
person in India): I used to work in petrol pump.
Rajnikant
(Bollywood
Actor): At the age of 30, I was a bus conductor.
Friends...there are many such people who struggled.
Life is not about what you couldn't do so far...it's what you can
still do.
Wait...and don't ever give up ~ Miracles happen every day.
Here
is the News...with Peter Moosebridge
(Published by The Canadian Press...November 16, 2015)
CBC anchor 'leapt at the chance' to do Disney role.
Disney's
animated feature “Zootopia”
will feature a uniquely Canadian character ~ a news anchor
moose-voiced by CBC's Peter Mansbridge. The character of Peter
Moosebridge
is a moose and co-anchor of the ZTV News, a trusted source of news
for the inhabitants of “Zootopia”.
Disney
says the character was specifically written with Canada in mind and
intended to be voiced by a Canadian. The studio reached out to
Mansbridge, who said he immediately accepted the cameo.
The
comedy-action adventure is about a city where animals from every
environment live together. Zootopia
opens in theatres March 4, 2016. Not surprisingly, Peter was a
natural and we believe audiences will delight in seeing Canada
represented in Peter
Moosebridge.
Why
did he want to do the role? Peter states, “Well, I didn't want to
do it for me...
I wanted to do it really for my kids and grandkids”.
Compiled by Merle Baird-Kerr...November 19, 2015
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