Scott Stirling (left), president and CEO of Newfoundland Broadcasting Ltd. (NTV), looks on as his father and station owner Geoff Stirling presents his case to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunication Commission public hearings at the Fairmont Newfoundland hotel in St. John's Wednesday Dec 11, 2002.JOE GIBBONS/The Canadian Press
Newfoundland and Labrador broadcasting icon Geoff Stirling was remembered as a trailblazer who instilled confidence in the province's residents with his larger-than-life personality over his half-century career.
Television station NTV said on Sunday that Mr. Stirling, the man who founded the outlet, died over the weekend. He was 92.
Born in St. John's in 1921, Mr. Stirling is known for having founded multiple media outlets in Newfoundland and Labrador, including the Sunday Herald in 1946 and the province's first provincial television station, CJON-TV, in 1955. It later became known as the NTV network. He also started the first FM radio station in Newfoundland, now known as OZ-FM.
John Steele, president of Steele Communications in St. John's, said Mr. Stirling was a man who "marched to the beat of his own drum."
"He was a trailblazer. He was a guy who always thought outside the box," said Mr. Steele of his former broadcasting competitor, adding that he first met Mr. Stirling as a child. "How many people have an influence for 50 years? He sustained it all that time. It's quite remarkable."
Mr. Stirling was eccentric, but he wore it on his sleeve, Mr. Steele said. He said Mr. Stirling practised mysticism and studied with gurus in India at one point.
"He wasn't afraid to go out and explore the world and bring it back to [Newfoundland and Labrador]," said Mr. Steele, adding that Mr. Stirling was also the first to introduce 24-hour television in North America. "He was a guy that instilled confidence in Newfoundland and Labradorians."
Mr. Steele said Mr. Stirling once wrote a letter to John Lennon. "He said, 'You said to come together, well here I am.' And he left his name and number. John Lennon got in touch with him," he said, adding that Mr. Stirling ended up conducting a series of interviews with the former Beatle. "Everybody's got a Geoff Stirling story."
Mr. Steele said many residents of Mr. Stirling's home province feel a special connection to him. "If you're not from here, you probably don't totally understand that. But in Newfoundland and Labrador, he was larger than life."
As news of Mr. Stirling's death became known Sunday, people took to Twitter to voice their condolences and praise for his contributions to Newfoundland and Labrador.
"RIP Geoff Stirling. A true Newfoundland media icon and pioneer," tweeted a person who posted under the name Steven Davis.
"The loss of a great NLer," tweeted a person who posted under the name Terry McDonald. "A media visionary, and seeker of truth, unafraid of the slings and arrows. RIP Geoff Stirling."
Outside of Newfoundland, Mr. Stirling was involved in broadcasting enterprises in Quebec, Ontario and the United States. A radio station he founded in Montreal eventually became CHOM-FM and remains a popular classic rock station in the city.
Mr. Stirling is a member of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame and the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador.