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The Oakville Beaver, W ednesday D ecem ber 11, 2002 - A3 Morning show host's sudden death shocks AM 740 By Wilma Blokhuis O A K V IL L E B E A V E R S T A F F Tom Fulton, a gentle giant in broad casting, died suddenly Monday morning of a massive heart attack. He was 58 years old. He had just finished his morning show at CHWO AM 740 at 9 a.m., went out to buy a coffee and collapsed steps away from the front door of the radio station's downtown Oakville studio. Paramedics were unable to revive him. He was pronounced dead at the Oakville-Trafalgar Memorial Hospital. His co-workers received grief coun selling Tuesday morning to help them cope with the sudden loss of their team leader, mentor and inspiration. "He was a pro," said Michael Caine, president and general manager of AM 740 - as the station has become known. "The bigger they are, the nicer they are and the lesS egocentric they are," Caine said of Fulton, who was marking his 40th year in broadcasting. He was hired about two years ago to `sign on' the station when it switched from CHWO 1250 to AM 740. After the successful switch on Jan. 8, 2001, Fulton and Caine danced in the studio. Caine said Fulton was. passionate about radio, well read, intelligent, pos sessed a zest for life and made people feel at ease. "He was a real, genuine guy," said Caine. "What you heard on the air is what you got in person, a nice genuine gentle man, with a great sense of humour and always a twinkle in his eye." Fulton was well respected in the broadcasting industry, said Caine. "Tom helped us keep our values, our commitment to the listener, because the listener was always the most important person to him. I think he came into his own here, and he was a big part of the station's success." Tom Fulton In the Fall 2002 Bureau of Broadcast Measurement (BBM), the station, play ing nostalgia music, showed a total audience of slightly under 600,000 lis teners, and top market share in Toronto and Ontario for people aged 50-plus. Caine said Fulton, and his co-host, "held their own" in the highly competi tive Toronto radio market "up against the best people in broadcasting in the most competitive dme slot in radio," mornings 5 : 3 0 - 9 a.m. "In my book, he will always be num ber one as the nicest guy in radio in Toronto," said Caine. "They couldn't beat him for character. "Broadcasting is a little brighter because of him and a little dimmer now that he's gone," said Caine. "He encouraged everybody. He men tored everybody from Mary Feely (his producer and co-host) to the part -time operators. He made everybody feel comfortable." She joined the station shortly after Fulton was hired. Feely described her mentor as the "kind of guy who always had a lot to give. He had a huge capacity for love. He was a very loyal and dedicated man." Fulton left behind a few reminders in the broadcast booth - reminders of the type of man he was. These items includ ed a poster o f the Famous People Players, one of Fulton's favourite chari ties. The special needs theatrical troupe created the Big Kahuna character after his alter ego. Fulton, who stood 6-foot4, was known as the Big Kahuna during his early days in rock and roll radio, a character he revived for AM 740's Friday night Prim e Time Bandstand show. Fulton was also dedicated to his church, St. James Cathedral in Toronto, said Feely, and encouraged listeners to support its food drives and other charita ble efforts. But the most touching reminder of all is a picture of a golden retriever looking at a little fish in the pond, said Feely. `Tom had a great capacity for love. He realized that these two slightly mis matched animals had a personal rela tionship. and he strived to achieve that with people he met and with everybody that he knew." And, there was poppy left from Remembrance Day "which made me think he may be gone, but never forgot ten." In radio, it has been said that `the show must go on,' and `Tom would want us to remember him with a smile and a laugh, and not to be sad an morose"concluded Feely. "I will live my his example, to live, love, laugh and learn." Morning newscaster Bob Durant, who first met Fulton while both worked at CKFH AM 1430 in Toronto during the 1970s - before it became CJCL (The Fan 590) - said during a Tuesday morn ing newscast that he will "miss his big booming laugh." Durant described Fulton as a "pleas ant, cheerful guy" who was very easy to work with. "In an ego driven business, he didn't have much of an ego. He loved radio, loved coming into work in the morning, and I believe he was as enthusiastic now as he was 40 years ago. "He had a childlike enthusiasm for just about everything, and was interest ed in everything. `Tom was the backbone of the oper ation and we're certainly going to miss him. He was a throwback to the old style of announcer who had personality. "He was also the type of guy who if he had anything to say, he would say it," said Durant, adding he was as equally comfortable expressing his concerns to his bosses as he was with his co-worker Feely, "with whom he had infinite patience." Andy Stokes, marketing director for AM 740, described Fulton as "a con summate professional and a perfection ist." His death was a "terrible shock for everybody at the radio station. We have a very different atmosphere here, a fam ily environment. We've lost a very good friend." Fulton came to AM 740 from CFRB. He previously worked at CJRT for more than 20 years and donated all of his taped interviews with authors, celebri ties, politicians and other notables to the National Archives. The radio bug bit him at age 17 at the University of British Columbia. Two years later, he landed his first job in Quesnel, BC. He worked at CJCA in Edmonton and CFAX in Victoria before arriving at CKFH in Toronto in 1965 at age 25. "I built AM 740 around him," said program director Gene Stevens. "We have wonderful people here, some who have been here for more than 30 years, but Tom was the new player on the team, the guy with major market experience. "He had a major market sound, yet there was a gentleness about him," con tinued Stevens. "Tom was an amazing talent, an intellectual man, well read. "He was our team leader, an inspira tion for all of us. He had never seen a violent movie. `Tom would never settle for second best. He kept pushing for higher stan dards." Fulton was outspoken "and made you feel empowered. He was never afraid to anything." Stevens said Fulton, with a "shock of white hair and beard, and big voice" possessed a "powerful presence." Surviving him are his wife, Cheryl, and 19-year-old son, Jesse, a first-year student at the University of Toronto. Visitation will be held at the Turner & Porter Funeral Home, York Chapel, 2357 Bloor St. W., in Toronto on Dec. 13 from 6 - 9 p.m., and a funeral service will be held at St. James Cathedral at King and Church Streets in downtown Toronto at 11 a.m. In memorial donations may be made to the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Councillor struck by car outside home (Continued from page A1) Committee worried about costs of rebate program (Continued from page A1) Grant Buchan-Terrell, one of four mem bers of the citizens' committee, said his group looked at rebate models in exis tence in Ajax and Toronto. He told councillors that committee members couldn't find any evidence that a rebate program encouraged more candi dates to stand for office or more voters to participate in the election process. There was also concern within the committee over the potential costs of the program, as well as the uncertainty of the costs involved. Even finding out the costs of the Ajax program was difficult, Buchan-Terrell admitted, with esti mates ranging from $5,000 to $20,000. depending on whether internal adminis trative costs were included. In Oakville's case, the simple cost of cutting a cheque is estimated to be about $17. That means the town could spend $17 to mail out a cheque for $12.50. if an individual was applying for a rebate on a $25 contribution. While staff has assured councillors they will try to find the most cost-effective way of dealing with the cheques as a batch, there will also be additional administrative costs for processing the rebates. Still, politicians were supportive of the idea, which they believe will increase public participation in the program. Mayor Ann Mulvale said she would prefer to see municipal tax donations eli gible as an income tax deduction, which is how donations to federal and provin cial political parties are treated. However, she spoke in favour of the rebate program, saying, "Hopefully we will prove the example that wasn't neces sarily proven in Toronto and Ajax that this does have an impact." A review committee will be estab lished in 2004 to evaluate the impact of the program and decide whether it should be continued for the 2006 municipal elec tion. "I see this as a pilot," said Ward 1 Councillor Kevin Flynn. "We'll see after the election how it works." Support for the program also came from Mike Lansdown. an executive member of Oakvillegreen. who urged the committee to adopt a rebate program to increase involvement in the municipal election process. "We do not have a very happy track record of the public participating in the political process of this town," he said. thing in the com er of her eye and threw herself against her vehicle. A split second later a car struck her, spun her around and left her, in extreme pain, beneath the front grille o f her Jimmy. "Something said to me 'You can't stay here,' " said Caster, who pulled herself over the curb only seconds before another vehicle drove square into the rear of her SUV. "Both people said they didn't see me or my truck." Caster admits the sun was in the drivers' eyes but maintains that this can't be used as an excuse - especially with the number o f children on their way to school. Better to get up five minutes earlier to defrost your wind shield, she said, than have a dead youngster on your conscience. "If you can't see, don't drive," said Caster, who also encourages drivers to wear sunglasses. "Everybody thinks it w on't happen to me," she said. 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