Longtime DJ dies six months after cancer diagnosis
Live 88.5’s Katfish Morgan ‘one of the few real people on radio’
Michel Maisonneuve knew before most folks that his kid brother would be using his wits and voice to make a living.
“He was a blabbermouth, even as a kid,” Maisonneuve says with a laugh, recalling breakfasts in the family home when the kid who would adopt the radio moniker “Katfish Morgan” would regale the table with non-stop chatter.
“I’d complain to my mother: ‘Can’t you stop him?’ But she’d just roll her eyes.”
Ottawa radio listeners and musicians paid tribute Saturday to André Maisonneuve, better known as the popular longtime Live 88.5 DJ Katfish Morgan, who died Friday after being diagnosed with cancer six months ago.
Maisonneuve was an original staffer when Live 88.5 adopted a new rock format in 2005, with an emphasis on alternative rock playlists.
A statement from Live 88.5 Saturday called him “a great broadcaster,” a fearless leader and a “truly loyal friend.”
“André gave birth to Live 88.5. He ‘lived life large’ and he was an absolutely magnificent human being,” said the statement, which added that those who wish to honour him should donate to the Canadian Cancer Society.
Maisonneuve was born in Quebec, but the family moved to Thunder Bay and he attended Confederation College, graduating from their communications program before embarking on his radio career.
When he arrived at Live 88.5 FM, he already boasted a 25-year resumé in the broadcast industry, working at a number of stations in cities including Montreal, Halifax, London, Calgary and Toronto, and having hosting a syndicated Top20 rock-countdown show.
Imre Rohonczy, a longtime friend, said he was always impressed by Maisonneuve’s “big heart and his sense of loyalty.”
The men were part of a loose group of pals who would meet at the Prescott Tavern on Friday nights for wide-ranging discussions that were never repeated.
“I can’t call him André, I always knew him as Fish or Fishy,” Rohonczy joked. “But we talked about everything and anything and I knew whatever we talked about would stay between us. You’d never hear it repeated.”
Rohonczy was also impressed by Maisonneuve’s many charitable endeavours, on projects ranging from the Robbie Burns Society to the Children’s Wish Foundation.
“There were so many, he was really, really involved in the community.”
Like many broadcasters, Maisonneuve was a fan of all types of music, but family members remember that no gathering was complete without his rendition of the Tragically Hip song Bobcaygeon.
“In a profession where personalities change with the flick of the microphone ‘on-air’ light, Katfish was one of the few ‘real people’ on the radio,” veteran radio personality and programmer Jim Hurcomb wrote in a Facebook message.
“His honesty, intelligence and sense of humour will be greatly missed. … This guy was a great broadcaster!”
Morgan had not been on the air for some time. The station tweeted in May that he was “taking some well-earned time off.”
Michel Maisonneuve said there would be no formal funeral service for his brother and the family would likely wait until the new year when André’s son, a 23-yearold member of the armed forces, returns from deployment in Ukraine. André also has a daughter, 21, who is a student in Ottawa. The family asked their names not be given.