National Post

Journalist ‘had such a distinctiv­e voice’

Consummate profession­al had cheery manner

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Peter Rakobowchu­k, a journalist whose high energy delivery was instantly recognizab­le to decades of listeners, has died.

More widely known by his radio moniker, Peter Ray — a supervisor early on told him it sounded smoother — the irrepressi­ble Rakobowchu­k had been undergoing chemothera­py for liver cancer. He was 71.

“He had such a distinctiv­e voice that no name was required,” said Rose Kingdon, broadcast director at The Canadian Press.

In fact, guests at his wedding to Pat Enborg three decades ago clamoured for him to do his famous sign-off when he stood to respond to the roasts.

“Do the sign- off, do the sign- off,” they chanted. To much applause, Rakobowchu­k boomed: “Peter Ray, Montreal.”

Born Oct. 27, 1948, in Verdun, Que., Rakobowchu­k began his career as a radio DJ. In 1979, he joined CP’S Broadcast News in Toronto. He transferre­d to the Ottawa bureau 18 months later, spending four years there before moving to Montreal, where, apart from a six-year stint covering the legislatur­e in Quebec City, he remained.

A fearless reporter, Rakobowchu­k covered assignment­s with unbridled enthusiasm. He was there when the Queen signed the Constituti­on. He was at the Oka crisis. He covered referendum­s, protests, political leadership races and elections, sometimes racing to events in the “War Wagon,” a 1978 Chevy Malibu, the first car he owned.

“He loved every minute of it,” Enborg said Wednesday.

In the early 1990s, Rakobowchu­k slipped into a phone booth to file a report on a protest when he began having difficulty. Tear gas, he explained apologetic­ally, as he got his report across between coughing bouts.

“To say he was enthusiast­ic is a bit of an understate­ment,” said Nelson Wyatt, a longtime colleague and friend.

During one protest, Rakobowchu­k came across looters in a store and jumped in to shoot video. When voices behind him yelled “Move!,” he responded to the officers poking him in the back with their batons: “In a minute!”

Rakobowchu­k is survived by Enborg, a son and two daughters.

 ??  ?? Peter Rakobowchu­k, better known as Peter Ray, in
Montreal in 2006.
Peter Rakobowchu­k, better known as Peter Ray, in Montreal in 2006.

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