Jim Nunn, the former host of CBC News Nova Scotia at six, land and sea And marketplaceShe died after a battle with cancer.
Nunn died Sunday night in hospital in Antigonish, NS. He was 72 years old. No date has been set for a funeral, but his family said a celebration of life is planned for some time in the spring.
“Jim was quite a character. He was known to many in Nova Scotia as this great journalist, but ultimately he was a great man,” Nunn’s brother Bruce told CBC News.
Bruce said his brother’s broadcasting career started on their father’s knee “on the mic on CJFX radio in Antigonish… so Jim got into the business very early”.
Bruce said he read messages of condolence online from people who spoke about how his brother had impacted their careers.
His career at CBC spanned three decades. Nunn was known for his coverage of the local elections and his coverage of major events in Nova Scotia such as the Westray mining disaster.
“He really represented the worker”
“It was like it was live on TV for days. It was exhausting and difficult but he got so many compliments for the work he did there. He really represented the laborer, this very dangerous profession that’s rooted in Nova Scotia culture and history,” Bruce said.
Geoff D’Eon, Nunn’s executive producer from 1988-93 when he was presenter First editionsaid Nunn was a “terrifying and fearless journalist”.
“He had a really great journalistic brain … he was always asking really probing and sometimes outrageous questions and I personally thought he was a great broadcaster and CBC and Nova Scotians were lucky to have him as the show’s host,” Eon said .
D’Eon said some viewers found Nunn’s interview style rude and occasionally offensive. D’Eon recalled receiving letters about it.
CLOCK | Jim Nunn’s departure from CBC Nova Scotia
“I always found his interviewing style very open and he didn’t pull any punches and he always wanted to get to the heart of the matter … especially when he was interviewing politicians,” D’Eon said, adding some politicians didn’t want to be interviewed by Nunn because they were intimidated by him.
D’Eon said one of his most memorable interviews was with rock star Alice Cooper, who grabbed his throat and threatened to rip out his eyeballs and throw them across the studio. This snippet is posted in a video that can be seen on YouTube.
“If I had to boil it down to one thing, I would say if you are interested in public policy or politics in Nova Scotia and are looking for an ally in the journalistic community to find out what is going on and hold people accountable , Jim Nunn would have been your best friend,” D’Eon said.
In 2008, Nunn conducted an infamous interview with actor John Dunsworth Trailer park guys To come to the end.
During that interview, Nunn told Dunsworth, “Isn’t it a wonderful thing that this horrible TV show is full of slobbery, weed, very drunk people who, you know, give a very bad impression of the poor who live in the trailer parks.” .. isn’t it great that it’s gone?”
Dunsworth, who played Jim Lahey on the show, replied, “You must forgive Mr. Nunn, I think he’s impersonating Pat Robertson.”
Dunsworth also clarified this in a 2015 tweet Nunn “played” during this interview.
Later Nunn would appear in the film, Trailer Park Boys: Don’t Legalize It.
CLOCK | Jim Nunn’s interview with John Dunsworth
Nunn retired from CBC in 2009. Bruce Nunn said his brother “likes to live in the present” and is an excellent gardener at his home in Antigonish. He said he would drive to the Canso Causeway once a day to buy the Globe and Mail.
“He was the guy who just wanted to be, he was very good at just being himself,” Bruce said.
One of his fondest memories of his brother was during a winter storm when the dinnertime newscast was scheduled to call people across Nova Scotia. But the technology failed during the show.
“Jim was on live TV, with no one to talk to, trying to fill in dead air, and he confidently turned to the camera and said, ‘My mom told me there were going to be days like this.’ So he had a sense of humor and he knew how to handle television, he knew how to seize the moment, he was good at what he did,” he said.
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