(Gord Atkinson at his home in Stittsville while holding a copy of his book ‘The Golden Years of Entertainment’ published in 2016. Photo: Stittsville Central, Zach Mulder)
The Stittsville Legion and the Stittsville Friendship Club are jointly hosting an afternoon presentation by Peter Atkinson, the son of Gord Atkinson. Gord Atkinson was a well-known radio announcer at CFRA and a Stittsville resident for many years. The presentation takes place on Thursday, June 27 at 2:30pm at the Stittsville Legion on the ground floor in the Lounge.
Peter recently authored a book on his father – Gord Atkinson: Ottawa’s Oldest Teenager: the Campus Years (1954-1967) – and has been meeting with various city organizations and groups to provide a presentation on his book and father including the Historical Society of Ottawa, the Good Companions Centre and local retirement homes.
The presentation made up of slides and video clips, that features interviews with Paul Anka and Rich Little talking about how their careers were launched on his dad’s popular radio program, Campus Corner, as well as interviews his dad held with performers such as Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra.
As Ottawa’s most listened to disc jockey during the late 50s and early 60s, Gord met and interviewed many of the pioneers of rock ‘n’ roll, including Elvis Presley, whom Gord introduced on stage at the Ottawa Auditorium on April 3, 1957. Both Rich Little and Paul Anka, long-time friends of Gord, were introduced on his show. Among the legendary entertainers Gord met and interviewed were Jimmy Stewart, Fred Astaire, George Burns, Dinah Shore, and Harry Belafonte. In recognition of his work as a community builder in Ottawa, which included hosting the annual CFMO/Ottawa Citizen Christmas Exchange broadcast and helping to organize the 1981 Frank Sinatra/Rich Little Benefit Concert for the Ottawa Hospital, May 24,1998 was declared Gord Atkinson Day in the City of Ottawa.
For all of the awards and honours bestowed on Gord Atkinson, he remained a humble man. In his 2017 interview with Stittsville Central, he told Zach that …… it’s his friendships and family. No matter how much success he saw in his career, family stayed the number one priority.