Bill PhillipsThe Globe and Mail
Bill Phillips: Broadcaster. Writer. Musician. Polymath. Born Sept. 16, 1933, in Vernon, B.C. Died Aug. 24, 2017, in Oliver, B.C., of multiple myeloma; aged 83.
He would have felt uncomfortable being described as a polymath, even if he did speak, as some said, seven languages, amused himself by doing crossword puzzles in Spanish and was, in his last months, preparing English translations of German poetry. Friends would have bet on him against the IBM computer on Jeopardy!, but William Harold Phillips wore his intelligence lightly.
He was best known as a broadcaster; his rich baritone was heard on CBC Radio and various private stations, beginning in the 1950s at CJIB Vernon, where he met copywriter Margie Manvell, who would become his wife for 58 years.
In 1960, his was the first voice on CHAN-TV, Vancouver's first private television station (now Global) as its principal newscaster, but for much of his career Bill was associated with Vancouver radio station CHQM.
As a writer, he produced material both whimsical (How I Survived the Beer Strike) and serious (Remembering Jacqueline du Pré) that was published in West Coast magazines.
He collaborated with Jurgen Gothe on The Dog and Trombone, a CBC Radio series set in an imaginary pub in Mozart's Vienna. Bill voiced innkeeper Hap Haffner, and the show has become a cult classic.
Bill Phillips was a futurist, as well as a fantasist. He was a member of one of Canada's first think tanks, organized by Frank (Dr. Tomorrow) Ogden, and a Ted Talk moderator.
His talents were also musical: A multi-instrumentalist, he played tuba in a concert band, bass with a bluegrass group, sang with two choirs and performed with the local opera society. He even played alto saxophone for a time in a dance band, which, although the eminent jazz guitarist Ed Bickert sometimes sat in, he described as "seriously awful."
Bill and Margie had three children, Paul, Christa and Willy. All became performers for a time: Paul, followed his father into broadcasting in the 1980s; Willy became a musician, until his death in 2009; and Christa appeared with her father together as father and daughter in Norm Foster's Drinking Alone at a local theatre.
Bill was a gentle and uncritical man but he was amused by pretentiousness. Lunching with a friend who gave explicit instructions for a gin and tonic – "Gordon's and Schweppes" – Bill said, "A screwdriver, please. Smirnoff and Tang."
Yet when it came to money, his attitude fell between casual and indifferent. Explaining its value to young Paul, Bill said, "It's like having fuel to heat the house. It's good to have enough for what you need, but you don't have to fill the basement with it."
In later years, in the Okanagan Valley, Bill continued to write and accept occasional voicing assignments. He retained his good humour and keen intelligence to the end. Regarding himself and others of his vintage, he said, "We've arrived at the second last reel."
Margaret Phillips is Bill's wife. Rocky Rocksborough-Smith and Lyndon Grove are long-time radio colleagues.