He is one of the greats in the world of sports journalism who left us on Sunday, when Jean-Paul Chartrand Sr. died at the age of 92.
Mr. Chartrand began his career at Montreal Journal in 1964 and later became director of the daily’s sports section. He also covered the activities of the city’s professional teams, including the Canadiens and the Alouettes, for the daily newspaper Montreal-Morning. It was there, between 1973 and 1978, that he was the colleague of a young Marc de Foy.
“It was a pleasure to work with him,” said the emeritus columnist of the Newspaper. Jean-Paul was a guy who was always in a good mood and always positive.”
“He was open-minded and I always appreciated the fact that he spoke without filter,” also recalled the man who was 19 years old when he became Mr. Chartrand’s colleague. He loved life and what he did.”
The Montreal native was also the sports director for the daily Sunday morningworked on radio for CKAC, CJMA and CKVL, in addition to working on television for Radio-Canada.
Mr. Chartrand also stood out in hosting boxing in Quebec, starting in 1980. Until recently, he still shared the airwaves with Yvon Michel for the presentation of boxing galas at the Réseau des sports (RDS), a station that he helped found in 1989. He was notably at the helm of more than 1,600 programs for the sports channel, he who also described football games and hosted hunting and fishing with his sidekick Jean Pagé.
A true enthusiast
The journalist was also inducted into the Quebec Sports Hall of Fame as a builder last November.
“He loved what he did so much. It wasn’t difficult for him. I think he didn’t even see it as a job, said Marc de Foy. That explains why he did it for so long. He was having fun. In the last years, he had nothing to gain. His reputation was made, but he loved it and there was no question of stopping.”
Mr. Chartrand’s good humor was contagious and this was particularly highlighted by several dozen former colleagues on social networks in the last few days.
“When he arrived somewhere, he lit up the room,” said Marc de Foy. It was impossible to miss it. He was jovial and everyone loved being around him. We knew we were never going to get bored when he was there.”