Arthur Black shares his story until the end

We are very saddened to announce that Arthur Black—beloved author, humorist and broadcaster—passed away on February 21, 2018.

Arthur was perhaps best known for hosting CBC’s national radio show, Basic Black, which aired from 1983 to 2002. After he retired from Basic Black, Arthur was still heard regularly on regional CBC radio shows such as All Points West, where he had a regular radio column called “Planet Salt Spring.” Arthur also hosted two shows on the Life Television Network for five years, Weird Homes and Weird Wheels.

As a writer, Arthur penned a syndicated humour column for over forty years and authored eighteen books, three of which won the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour: Pitch Black (Harbour), Black Tie and Tales (Stoddart) and Black in the Saddle Again (Stoddart). His most recent books were Paint the Town Black (Harbour, 2015) and Fifty Shades of Black (Douglas & McIntyre, 2013).

Originally from Toronto, ON, Arthur moved to Salt Spring Island, BC, with his partner Lynne Raymond in the 1990s. He was an active part of the Salt Spring community and often wrote about his experiences as an islander. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in early 2018 and spent his last weeks blogging about his condition with humour and honesty—thereby giving back to his fans and other cancer survivors until the very end.

We extend our sincere condolences to Arthur’s family and to his many friends and readers.