Roy Bonisteel

Roy Bonisteel, CM (29 May 1930 – 16 August 2013) was a Canadian journalist and the former host from 1967 to 1989 of the CBC Television program, Man Alive.

Life and career

A winner of two awards of excellence in broadcast journalism, Bonisteel also received six honorary doctorates including an honorary Doctorate of Letters from Laurentian University in Sudbury, and an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Queen's University inKingston. In 1994, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada.

He was born in Ameliasburg, Ontario and began his journalism career with newspapers in Belleville and Trenton. In 1951, Bonisteel began his broadcasting career in radio in the city of Belleville, Ontario. From this start he moved to CKTB radio in St. Catharines, Ontario in 1953. After 12 years at CKTB he left in 1964 to try for a job at a different station. He failed to obtain this job, so Bonisteel moved into religious broadcasting. (Canadian broadcasting regulation at the time required radio stations to broadcast religious shows.)

He entered into an agreement with the United Church of Canada to produce a 15-minute program titled Checkpoint. His efforts led this show to be syndicated across Canada. This then led to a position as director of broadcast for the United Church in Vancouver in 1965. He started a religious open-line radio program titled God Talk on CKWX, with a panel consisting of Rev. Walter Donald, Fr. John Shields and Rev. Jack Shaver with the occasional guest.

In 1967, Bonisteel met Leo Rampen, an executive producer at CBC Television. Rampen was looking for a host for Man Alive, a new series that would explore man's religious dimensions, and chose Bonisteel for the job. In the next 22 years, Bonisteel would go on to interview Malcolm Muggeridge, Elie Wiesel, Mother Teresa, Hans Küng and many others. Memorable shows include broadcasts from Belfast (1974), Africa (1975), and May's Miracle (the story of May, Joe and Leslie Lemke).

He summed up his philosophy in a speech at the 80th anniversary celebration of Grace United Church in Weyburn, Saskatchewan: "We are moulded into a materialist world where we do a lot of eating, drinking and making merry until we ask the basic questions 'Who am I? Where am I going? What is our purpose in life?'".

After retiring from journalism, Bonisteel served as a citizenship judge. He was named to the Order of Canada in 1994.

Bonisteel died in the morning of 16 August 2013. He was 83. He is survived by daughters Lesley and Leigh Bonisteel and son Steve Bonisteel.

Published works

Books

• Man Alive the Human Journey, c. 1983, Collins Publishers ISBN 0-00-217102-3
• In Search of Man Alive, 1980, Collins Publishers ISBN 0-00-216815-4
• All Things Considered, 1997, Doubleday Canada, ISBN 0-385-25599-3

Video

• Circle of Witches
• All their Own
• May's Miracle