KNOWLTON NASH. Born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 18 November 1927. Educated at the University of Toronto. Married: 1) Sylvia (died 1980); 2) Lorraine Thomson, 1982, child: Anne. Began career as newspaper reporter for Globe and Mail, Toronto, Ontario until 1947; manager, news bureaus for British United Press News Service, 1947-51; worked for International Federation of Agricultural Producers, Washington D.C., director of information and representative at United Nations, 1951-61; freelance journalist, 1961-64; correspondent, CBC, Washington D.C., 1964-68; director of information programming, CBC Radio and Television in Toronto, and director of television news and current affairs, 1968-78; chief correspondent and anchor, The National, 1978-88; senior correspondent and anchor, News in Review and Sunday Report, since 1988. Recipient: Order of Canada, 1988; John Drainie Award, 1995.

TELEVISION SERIES

1960-64 Inquiry (expert on American views)
1966-67 This Week (host)
1978-88 The National (newsreader)
1976-88 CTV National News
1988- News in Review
1988- Witness

PUBLICATIONS

History on the Run: The Trenchcoat Memoirs of a Foreign Correspondent. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1984.

Times to Remember. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1986.

Prime Time at Ten: Behind the Camera Battles of Canadian TV Journalism. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1987.

Kennedy and Diefenbaker: Fear and Loathing Across the Undefended Border. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1990.

Visions of Canada. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1991.

Knowlton Nash's The Microphone Wars. (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1994)

One of the most recognizable personalities in Canadian television, Knowlton Nash inhabits a truly unique space in news and public affairs broadcasting. Nash began his career in journalism at an early age working in the late 1940s as a copy editor for the wire service British United Press. In three short years Nash worked in Toronto, Halifax and later Vancouver, where he assumed the position of writer and bureau chief for the wire service. Soon thereafter Nash and his young family moved to Washington where after a few years working for the International Federation of Agricultural producers he began writing regular copy for the Windsor Star, Financial Post, and Vancouver Sun.

By 1958 Nash had become a regular correspondent for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's (CBC) Washington bureau, where in years to come he would interview key heads of state, including a succession of American presidents. For Canadians Nash became a familiar face abroad during the heady days of the Cuban missile crisis, the war in Vietnam and the assassinations of the Kennedy brothers. Nash's international reports in many respects symbolized the growth and reach of the CBC's news departments over the globe.

In the early 1970s Nash accepted an appointment by the CBC as head of news and information programming. For many Canadians, however, Nash is universally recognized and respected for his work as anchor for the CBC's evening news program The National. In 1978 Nash played a pivotal role in transforming The National into a ratings success for Canada's public broadcaster. Four years later Nash and The National solidified its place in the nation's daily routine when--against all traditions--it moved to the 10:00 P.M. time slot and added an additional half-hour news analysis segment entitled The Journal.

In April of 1988, after ten years as anchor, Nash retired from The National. Benefiting from his unmatched wealth of experience in Canadian television journalism Nash has taken on a number of projects since his so-called retirement. He periodically anchors the Friday and Saturday broadcasts of The National as well as the Sunday evening news program Sunday Report. Furthermore, Nash anchors both the CBC educational series News in Review and the highly acclaimed weekly documentary series Witness. On top of his duties in the field of electronic broadcasting and journalism, Knowlton Nash has written a number of books, some quite controversial, on the history of broadcasting at the CBC.

-Greg Elmer