Ed Jurak passes at 75

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Ed Jurak passes at 75

Postby radiofan » Tue Jan 29, 2019 11:13 am

From Gord Lansdell at Northwest Broadcasters

Former Vancouver announcer/engineer Ed Jurak died Saturday, January 26 at age 75 after battling several health issues over the last few years. He hosted weekends and fill-in at CKLG/CKLG-FM Vancouver 1963-66, was on air at CHTK Pr. Rupert from 1966-71 and station engineer from 1976-79. Jurak was an operator/on-air/engineer at CKO-FM Vancouver from 1983-89, chief engineer at CKST Langley/Vancouver from 1991-2002 and engineer for the CHUM Radio Group Vancouver 2002-04 when he retired. A celebration of life is being planned for the near future.
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who couldn't hear the music.
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Re: Ed Jurak passes at 75

Postby Talker » Wed Jan 30, 2019 3:52 pm

A nice man. Loved radio.
RIP, Ed.
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Re: Ed Jurak passes at 75

Postby Neumann Sennheiser » Thu Jan 31, 2019 5:22 pm

gtbell wrote:A nice man. Loved radio.
RIP, Ed.


I can only wish that someday someone will say something that kind and succinct about me.
"You don't know man! I was in radio man! I've seen things you wouldn't believe!"
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Re: Ed Jurak passes at 75

Postby cart_machine » Thu Jan 31, 2019 10:47 pm

Ed told me of a time in Prince Rupert when he was forced to do a sportscast. He knew nothing about sports or the teams involved. So he simply gave the scores: 4-3, 2-1, 6-4. He didn't name any teams; he just gave the scores.

The "O" in CKO must have stood for how much money was in the engineering budget. Ed kept that station on the air with odds and ends from Radio Shack and his own improvisations. He could fix anything.

There was one time part of the vast CKO complex (it used to be a Cunningham Drugs warehouse) had a power failure, including the control room. Ed simply went out to his VW van, grabbed a long lawnmower extension cord (Ed lived in an apartment and had no lawn) plugged it into the board and ran it down to the end of the hall where a government office still had power. The station was back on the air.

CKO had a gentleman by the name of John Gilbert who treated people like they were his own personal staff. Gilbert had Ed drive to Tsawwassen to fix his home stereo on a Sunday. Not on work hours and free of charge, of course. I asked Ed why he let Gilbert push him around like that, and he simply replied that Gilbert needed help so he helped him.

He was at home in an engineering land of tape machine heads, patch cords and busted Fidelipacs. As engineering became more and more computer-oriented, I think it kind of left him behind.

Ed was one person who tried to keep in touch with little groups of people he worked with over the years. It was nice to chat with him and get updates on Jolly John, or Gordon Johnson, or Lloyd Finlayson (before Lloyd passed away).

He's probably one of the friendliest people I've ever worked with and rarely blew up. He loved non sequiturs and things that were quirky and odd (which is probably why he still looked with fondness on CKO). I'm sorry he's gone.

cArtie.
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Re: Ed Jurak passes at 75

Postby don'tpanic » Sat Feb 02, 2019 6:55 am

Ed played a role in a very goofy incident involving a visit to CFTK Terrace by JB Shane. JB joined me on air and astounded the listening audience by - in the character of Sepp Dietrich - contorting himself into a Coke can.

Not satisfied with 'the theater of the mind', Sepp (JB) then said he'd repeat the feat at the Corner of Lazelle and Emerson, right outside the ratty old house that served as TK's home.

Now at the appointed hour, JB was long gone, so out comes Ed...placing the Coke can on the sitewalk, then putting one foot on the top. Ed proceeded to bend down and drop little pieces of bread into the can...and he walked away. One of the locals who 'just happened' to be hanging around this corner, ventured over, peered into the can, and squeaked, 'I see him!'

Crossed paths with Ed at CKST years later. A kind, sweet soul.
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Re: Ed Jurak passes at 75

Postby Chris Cutress » Sun Nov 20, 2022 1:49 am

Ed Jurak was one of the kindest and most passionate radio man I ever met in all my years working in the medium. A man with talents beyond just on-air or technical abilities. If Ed had an ego he would have been owning rather than working at radio stations. A man who could visit radio shack and for a few dollars accomplish what other radio station would pay hundreds or thousands of dollars to accomplish. If something broke or wasn't working properly in a studio he would be in there as soon as the studio was off air to make the repair. Then he would worry about the paperwork later. The on-air product was what was always at the top of his agenda. It is an honour to have been able to call Ed a friend and almost four years later I still miss our phone calls and lunch get togethers. RIP Ed Jurak, whenever I pass a broadcast tower I always think of you to this very day. And I will always remember the air check tapes you would share with me whenever you came back from your road trips down South.
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Re: Ed Jurak passes at 75

Postby cart_machine » Sun Nov 20, 2022 9:57 am

It's nice reading another remembrance of Ed.

We aired Question Period on CKO. If anything on radio could have a minus audience, this would have been it. Whenever the House Speaker shouted "Order, please," this was the cue for Ed to turn on the mike and for us to shout food orders and complaints on the air (egs. "Eggs sunny-side up, no mustard" and "Waitress, where are my mixed vegetables?").

Ed did drag on J.B.'s Night Vision show on SuperChannel. The premise was a lost silent film had been found and was being seen for the first time in decades. The film's main character was Babushka, a poor Eastern European woman in the years after World War One. Ed, with a trusty head scarf, played Babushka (I played her son). There's a snippet of it from a poor quality VHS tape on-line somewhere. It's funny in its strangeness, as only J.B. could invent.

At his service, there were some wonderful pictures of Ed as a teenager rigging up a transmitter. He loved doing that sort of thing. There was a party of CKO vets at my place and Ed broadcast it over a 10-watt transmitter he had sitting around. Considering all the concrete around here, it could be picked up for half a block.

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