Geoff Stirling
Geoffrey William Stirling (March 21, 1921 – December 21, 2013) was a Newfoundland businessman. Born in St. John's, Stirling, along with other members of his family, owned several media outlets in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador under the corporate brand Stirling Communications International.[1] Specifically, these properties are CJON-DT which goes by the slogan Canada's Superstation; radio station CHOZ-FM; and the Newfoundland Herald, a weekly news, gossip and TV listings magazine.
In some circles, Stirling is regarded as an eccentric for the way in which he has used his media outlets to promote a variety of personal interests such as eastern mysticism and intestinal health. For example, he devoted many hours of, often unscheduled, broadcast time to conversations with gurus such as Ram Dass and Swami Shyam and to a variety of esoteric subjects ranging from pyramids to unidentified flying objects, a practice which continues today as the station is run by his son Scott, and Scott and Judy's son, Jesse. When he watched his own television station he would sometimes phone Master Control to order that a favorite tape immediately preempt the current broadcast, or, that the technician apply a particular effect to the screen. Stirling himself claimed that after being diagnosed with arthritis he had a doctor inject liquid gold directly into his blood.[citation needed]
Stirling appeared in the 1974 documentary film Waiting for Fidel about a trip he made to Cuba along with former Newfoundland premier Joey Smallwood and director Michael Rubbo. The trio never met the Cuban leader. Almost all of the program is a poolside conversation between Smallwood and Stirling as to what they would like to ask Castro. Some of the dialogue occurs while Stirling is demonstrating yoga and standing on his head while conversing with Smallwood.[2] Although considered eccentric by some, Stirling pioneered many television firsts in North America. NTV was the first station to broadcast 24 hours a day. In the late 1970s, in between television programs and late at night, Stirling would broadcast, what were called at the time, promotional films by popular music and rock bands, a precursor to music videos.
Stirling supervised the creation of the graphic novel Atlantis featuring the superheroes Captain Atlantis (a.k.a. Captain Newfoundland) and Captain Canada, drawing on elements of Canadian history as well as New Age philosophy. Captain Canada has become a mascot for the NTV station and has appeared in television programs, commercials, and numerous public events.
Stirling was a co-founder in the Economic Union Party, a late-1940s political movement that sought closer ties to the United States for the Dominion of Newfoundland, which, at that time, was still independent from Canada. It was one of two organizations that unsuccessfully opposed the dominion's confederation into Canada, which eventually occurred in 1949.
In 2001 Stirling was inducted into the CAB Broadcast Hall of Fame. From 2012 until his death, he split his time between Torbay, Newfoundland and Labrador, and his ranch in Wickenburg, Arizona. Stirling had also owned homes in India and Hong Kong. Stirling died at the age of 92 on December 21, 2013.[3]
