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Click on the CKLN logo to hear Bill Grove's commentary  on Monday,
January 8/2001 at approximately 9:00am on " What is Jazz " in RealAudio.
Following is a letter  Bill Grove sent to a friend on the date below.

From: Bill Grove <billgrove@idirect.com>
To: pauleboyd@hotmail.com
Subject: endless foolishness
Date: Sat, 13 Jan 2001 10:19:43 -0500

paul,

it looks like my days at ckln are over.
i was talking about that nigerian girl and the
180 lashes she was going to receive for
the "crime" of fornication, and mentioned
that the authorities weren't that bad because
they'd said that if, after 30 or so lashes, it
looked as if the girl was going to die, why then
they would stop the beating until she was better
and then she could come back for the rest of her
beating at a later date! I suggested instead they
give her one lash every three months, whereby it
would take 45 years to complete the punishment,
"lashes for life" I called it.

Then I get a call from someone in the office saying that,
 having listened to the transcript, the core staff has decided to suspend
me for supporting the lashing of people, in clear violation
of station policy. I tried to explain the joke to him (sort of
like showing a dog a card trick) and then said that I
refused to be suspended over such idiocy and would rather quit
instead. Ta-da!  It would appear that I've not
heard the last of this.

BG

Bill Grove received the following letter 13 days after the comments
 aired via e-mail from CKLN Core Staff, who never requested his
 appearance in person in an interview to explain his commentary.

380 Victoria Street Toronto Ontario M5B 1W7
Office: (416) 595.1477 Newsroom: (416) 595.5068
Fax: (416) 595.0226 Request: (416) 595.1655

January 21, 2001

To: Bill Grove

What Is Jazz?

From: The Core Staff

On Thursday January 11, 2001 we received a call from a listener concerned about comments
 you made on your show at approximately 9:00 am on Monday of the same week. The complaint related to a particular suggestion made by you in a commentary relating to the public flogging of a young woman by Nigerian authorities. The specific remarks, which caused offence, were:

" The most humane approach is one lash every three months…. 
It will take 45 years to do it. We can call it lashes for life. I don’t know, 
it’s just a suggestion I’m not trying to force it on anyone."

The caller pointed out that he understood the sarcastic nature of these comments 
in the context of your criticism of the hypocrisy surrounding the event; specifically in relation 
to the approach that the floggers were to take in the brutal punishment of this woman. 
Nevertheless, he felt your attempt at humour to make your opinion on this subject known was inappropriate for public broadcast.

Upon reviewing the tape of the above-mentioned segment of your show, we are in agreement
 with the concerns of this listener. Being facetious in commentary surrounding the brutal
 oppression and victimization of a woman is not appropriate for public broadcast. Choosing
 to refer to your suggestion as "lashes for life" is glib and particularly tasteless.

Your remarks, those quoted above and those which preceded them, would be more at home
 at CFRB, for example, where comments are commonly made without proper context about
 events in Africa, Asia or South America. Mainstream media uses incidents like this one to portray African nations, for instance, and their migrants, as barbaric and backward, thereby contributing to racist stereotypes. The only mention of nations like Nigeria on this continent is in reportage of natural disasters or violence. Meanwhile, western media rarely holds its governments accountable for reprehensible conduct. Your commentary, though we expect this was not your intention, contributed to these stereotypes.

Considering your past warnings regarding on-air conduct, we feel it is necessary to
 suspend you from further broadcasts at CKLN until this complaint is addressed by yourself
 to the satisfaction of the following requests:

-That you agree in writing to cease from making any on-air comments
 that may be found offensive or misinterpreted by listeners from the communities
 that CKLN serves, as is outlined by the station policy. This request includes,
specifically, on-air criticism employing "jokes" that involve the victims of oppression.

- That you issue an on-air apology for these comments to be delivered in writing
 to the core staff at least 24 hours prior to broadcast. The on-air apology is to be
 delivered at 9AM on the first Monday you return from your suspension.

This is your third in a series of warnings regarding on-air comments. CKLN policy dictates that third offences of this nature require volunteer dismissal. Only our appreciation for the service you have provided Monday morning Jazz listeners and your lengthy contribution as a volunteer at this station have convinced us to allow you the option of returning. We also recognize that it was probable that you were unaware of the problematic nature of your comments. We offer this letter in the hope that our concerns will help you avoid similar situations in the future. If you feel unable to appreciate the concerns behind this final warning we suggest that you allow your time as a volunteer here to end. Should we receive no response from you within ten days of your receipt of this letter we will conclude you have no intention to return. Should you require any clarification of this letter feel free to
 contact Tim or Conrad at 416-595-1477.

Sincerely,

Tim May             Kristen Schwartz           Conrad Collaco

Program Director         News Director             Station Manager

Letters of Support from Listeners'

To the regulators at the Canadian Radio and Television Committee: 

I am writing to express my shock and displeasure at the recent 
suspension of Bill Grove, a volunteer presenter of jazz music on CKLN in 
Toronto. 

I have listened to Mr. Grove's shows for years, enjoying his 
interesting and often challenging mixture of jazz styles. He programmed 
carefully for different hours, keeping his more difficult pieces for later 
in the morning, and never inundating his audience. He also spent a few 
minutes of each show reading newspaper clippings collected in the previous 
week, or commenting on current events.
 
Mr. Grove's comments always attempted to find the humour in 
things. He clearly harboured no prejudices, and had few axes to grind, 
beyond a heart-felt rage at intellectual dishonesty and self-righteousness 
in any form. This is a curious irony, as this is exactly how I would 
characterize the "core staff" at CKLN, who suspended him on the complaint 
of a single listener, with neither adequate opportunity for explanation 
from Mr. Grove, nor with reasonable process.
 
I listened carefully to Mr. Grove's comments on the day in 
question. Although I myself thought the joke to be in questionable taste, 
it was preceded by a clear warning expressing his concern that his comments 
not be taken as anything more than sarcasm aimed at the perpetrators of a 
heinous deed, no matter what their religion or race. (Curiously, this was 
not included in the comments quoted in his letter of reprimand )
 
I am affronted that a politically-correct, reactionary troika 
running a campus radio station can cause a respected announcer and musician 
to suddenly abandon a position he has fulfilled with exemplary skill for 
almost twenty years. I don't believe this is the first time this kind of 
situation developed with the present station managers, but it is clearly 
the last time Mr. Grove cares to butt heads with staff. It is our loss. 
Bill Grove was an able presenter who brought in a wide range of music from 
his own substantial collections. Not only has jazz lost an entertaining 
friend on the radio, this also constitutes a serious blow to a small but 
vital part of our cultural landscape: alternative radio.
 
All radio stations are constrained by the opinions of their 
advertisers, sponsors, donors, or political masters. Even the venerable 
CJRT recently became an all jazz station- after all, most of its donors 
were jazz fans. However now we are, more than ever, inundated with 
predictable jazz on the radio. It's music that is designed to soothe, not 
to challenge or excite their listeners. Under considerable adversity, new 
jazz music still continues to be produced, but hearing it on the radio 
becomes more rare with each passing year. Few presenters have the interest, 
knowledge, experience, or courage to offer an overview of this new music. 
Those that do are a rare breed, and must be protected. 

Campus Radio has always been the refuge of the adventurous 
programmer, and the home of music and commentary unavailable elsewhere on 
airwaves. I see the disciplining of Mr. Grove as the action of a small 
group of zealots using the politics of righteousness as a weapon to shut 
down or muzzle those whose comments fall outside of their narrow sense of 
justice. When questions of taste are interpreted as questions of morals in 
the public broadcasting, we are obliged to pay attention, and demand 
fairness. This is not what we should expect on any radio station.
 
I expect campus radio, in particular, to be the exemplar of an 
alternative voice on the air; while this loss is of itself unfortunate as 
well as unfair, the precedent it sets is truly dangerous. It is more than a 
tempest in a teapot; it represents a nasty turn to political correctness 
and could presage the further loss of some vitally important broadcasting 
at the edges of our cultural landscape. It must be addressed by the CRTC.
 
I would appreciate your comments, and would like to know if any 
action can be taken to ameliorate this incident in particular, or prevent 
similar occurrences from happening again. 

Sincerely, 

Jerry Shiner 

... and the response: 
January 30, 2001 

Mr. Shiner: 

Thank you for contacting us. 

Apart from the application of its Employment Equity policy, we generally 
don't become involved in the day-to-day operations of broadcasters, 
including matters involving personnel. If you have not already done so, you 
might wish to contact CKLN directly. It has been our experience that 
broadcasters are ultimately responsible to the audiences they serve and are 
generally receptive to comments they receive from listeners - especially so 
it seems, when larger number so listeners express the same or similar views. 

Sorry I can't be of more help. Thank you again for taking the time to write. 

Forrest Greene 
Client Services (Correspondence) 

A copy of this letter was sent to CKLN, and a slightly modified version was 
sent to the appropriate person at the Ryerson Student's Administrative 
Council. They have not yet responded. 


Jerry Shiner 
Object & Textile Conservation Services Ltd. O/A 
Keepsafe Systems & Forever Yours Gown Bridal Preservation 
Visit www.gowncare.com 

------------------------------------------------

Subject: A Comment
Date: Wed, 7 Feb 2001 20:20:25 -0500

As a supporter of CKLN and a regular listener I feel that I am entitled to a
comment. A comment on your decision to end the "What is Jazz" show.
You will be pleased to note that when I tuned in a couple of weeks ago I was
entertained with the most disgusting assortment of "make me come" and "Fuck
me" songs that I can't help but question the management of the station. This
was a reminder of the programming that I do not support on your station.
How you can accuse and frankly persecute Bill Grove and allow the garbage
that I heard on your station is beyond me. Where do you draw the line? To
allow your all night shows to degrade women is OK but a sarcastic Bill Grove
comment is grounds for dismissal. I wish that the station management was as
diligent in reviewing other programs as they are at attacking Bill Grove. Please explain
 to me the double standard that I am seeing here. I suggest that you review your decision in light of the "poetic licence " you allow your other hosts. Bill Grove has been a positive contributor to CKLN for many years and CKLN has prided itself as a medium for free expression ( witness the crap that you play at night ) I don't understand.

Regards,
Peter J Fuller

------------------------------------------------

From: Walter Schwager <wschwager@NICKEL.LAURENTIAN.CA>
To: ckln@sac.ryerson.ca
CC: billgrove@idirect.com Save Address
Subject: Bill Grove's departure
Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2001 19:22:09 -0500

I finally found out why I could no longer find the most adventurous, 
avant garde jazz program in Toronto on CKLN, with the departure of Bill Grove.
If the portrayal of events on his web site is correct, his dismissal was 
based on the flimsiest grounds, and the whole process a grave and 
indefensible violation of the rules of natural justice, as he was not heard 
and not given a chance to defend himself. For defenders of human rights 
such an injustice smacks of stalinist or maoist procedures, not a practice 
adopted by staunch democrats. Shame. 

Within the Toronto jazz radio community Bill Grove was the only one
daring to go beyond the boundaries of the standard and the mainstream.
He offered all aficionados the rare opportunity to hear new and
surprising music, or new, challenging records by under recognized
musicians. I never failed to listen to his Monday morning show, whether
in Toronto, or away from Toronto on the web. His departure is a major
blow to the more daring part of the Toronto jazz community, and a sad
loss for CKLN. Aren't campus radio stations supposed to be experimental,
avant garde, alternative, daring?

The disciplinary measures imposed by the CKLN central committee are
petty and their political position inconsistent. Bill is not allowed to
poke fun at oppressed women, but also not allowed to slander the
oppressor. I dislike the term "political correctness," because it
slights important issues, but the CKLN position is PC at its worst.

Prof. Walter Schwager, Ph.D.

------------------------------------------------

From: "Dwight Chalmers" <chalmersdwight@hotmail.com>
To: billgrove@idirect.com
Subject: Dismissal
Date: Sun, 18 Feb 2001 19:21:00 -0500

Dear Core Staff, CKLN: 

I am writing to protest the “suspension” of Bill Grove from his weekly morning radio show. I
have been a listener to the What Is Jazz program practically since its inception, and have
enjoyed not only the outstanding selection of music, a selection I might add that is very
difficult to find in the world of jazz programming, but also the spontaneous wit of its warm
and genial host. 

But of course it is the wit, a form of verbal improvisation if you will, that has landed Bill
into this very bizarre situation, a situation that I find incomprehensible. Incomprehensible
because for some reason I imagined that a community radio station might be governed by a sense of democracy and fair play, unlike the practices all those multi national corporations we keep hearing about (oops, sorry, you’re redundant; you have ten seconds to collect your belongings and get out the door). So, from what I can gather (hearing no defence from the management of the station), Bill was yanked off the air on the strength of one letter to the station and a couple of previous “warnings” . I gather also that there was no dialogue between Bill and “the powers that be” preceding his unplanned departure. 

As someone who has been relatively active in community and union democracy over the years I am truly saddened by this turn of events. As an amateur musician I now find myself without a program that certainly gave me a sense of direction, a sense of the outside that was without parallel. 
I listened carefully to Bill’s comments a few weeks ago on your sister station. I was
particularily struck by his comparison of his comments to the Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift. 
Satire isn’t easy, especially in its use of many levels of irony, and may escape some
listeners. But I believe Bill did give some notice that, hey, I’m being ironic here, in
pointing out the true absurdity, not to mention the barbarity, of the situation in Nigeria. 
Speaking of absurdity and barbarity, I am REALLY going to miss his comments on George W. Bush and the unfolding of the political scene in the States. We need all the satirists (not to
mention great musicians) we an possibly get just to keep a little sanity these days. 

I would encourage those who have been party to this decision to open up a new dialogue with Billso that we can have back one of the best radio programmes I have heard ever. Please go to the trouble of looking at Bill’s website. Please read carefully the importance he gives democracy in the process of making the music. 

Sincerely, 
Dwight Chalmers 
11 Fourth St. Ward's Island

------------------------------------------------

To: "Bill Grove" <billgrove@idirect.com>
Subject: CKLN Stupidity
Date: Sat, 24 Feb 2001 16:43:43 -0500

February 24, 2001

Hi Bill,

You probably don't remember me; we first spoke on the phone at the radio
station about 10 or 11 years ago when I had some questions about Ornette. I
was just discovering non-mainstream jazz and stumbled upon your show. I was
pleasantly surprised with the variety of music you chose and as I was just
discovering that type of music I found it quite difficult to understand. You
were very helpful and invited me to your apartment in Kensington Market to
pick up some of your music, which I also quite liked. You gave me a copy of
Humbercrest and some other live stuff that I still listen too regularly. I
remember saying to you once that I couldn't listen to Ornette all the time
because it was too difficult, and you telling me there's no reason why
anybody couldn't listen to him all the time. You told me not to try to
listen to the instruments individually, but rather to listen to the sound of
the whole group together. It wasn't long before "free" music (or whatever
you want to call it) was pretty much all I was listening to and I remembered
frequently what you said while listening to music.

I learned a lot about music from listening to your show and occasional phone
calls and will miss it quite a bit. You got burned. I can't believe that
they wanted an apology from you for what you said. I have sent a letter to
CKLN and the CRTC in your support although I don't think it will change
anything. Even if they did change their mind would you go back? I've
enclosed a copy of the letter I sent them in case you're interested. This
might sound crazy, but CJRT's new all jazz format is in desperate need of
help, as I'm sure you're aware. I know that they don't have anything
remotely resembling your taste in music currently, which is all the more
reason for them to have an interest in you as a host. Just an idea, it could
wake up (or shake up) the community if you have any interest in radio still.
Anyway, good luck and thank you for the "What is Jazz" show all those years.
If you have an e-mail list for notification of upcoming gigs or stuff like
that please add me to your list.

Sincerely,

Adrian Russell
(see copy of letter below)

February 24, 2001
CKLN
380 Victoria Street,
Toronto, Ontario
M5B 1W7
To: "The Core Staff"

Monday mornings were almost bearable due to the fact that I could expect
interesting and challenging music programming, and in between the music,
intelligent and often very amusing commentary not only on the music but also
on everything from politics to current events and almost anything in
between. My "warm and genial host" is no longer genial and for just cause.

I caught the tail end of Nilan Perera's show on CIUT on January 26, 2001 and
heard Nilan thanking Bill Grove for being on the show and saying something
that sounded rather ominous about Bill's situation, or problems, or
something like that (I don't remember the exact words). When I tuned in to
Bill's show on Monday and didn't hear him hosting, I was concerned about
what might be wrong with him. The last thing I imagined was that you had
fired him! I found out what happened through the web and have subsequently
heard the "offensive material" that resulted in Bill Grove's banishment.
Frankly, I'm astonished that a station that purports to be the voice of the
people and listener supported etc. etc. would show such narrow-minded
thinking as you have.

I have listened to Bill's "What is Jazz" show for over 10 years. His show
was the primary reason that I began, and continued listening to your
station. It showcased music that I couldn't hear anywhere else, and
personally I found his commentary on music and other things to be more
interesting and often funnier than anything else I hear on radio. To liken
his commentary on the unfortunate girl in Nigeria to something that would
air on CFRB is not only ridiculous, if you've ever listened to CFRB, but
completely unfair to such a longstanding volunteer. If you've ever listened
to his show, you would know that Bill is often sarcastic and unforgiving
towards examples of idiocy. This would explain both his comments on the
lashing case and would also explain his refusal to apologize to you.
Satirical comment about the oppressive regime in Nigeria is fair comment and
far from racist or demeaning to African nations as a whole. How his
commentary about a barbaric sentence imposed by a government on a
defenseless individual "contributed to these stereotypes" is beyond me. You
censured him for a "joke" that involved a victim of oppression, yet the
"joke" was directed at the oppressor and not at the victim. Overall, your
stance seems inconsistent and strangely malicious.

It would appear that the damage is done, and we will no longer be able to
enjoy a show that lasted over 17 years due to one listener complaint, and
one overly zealous, politically incorrect board. I hope you will rethink
your position and offer Bill Grove an apology from the station for the
callous and unfair way he has been treated by you. Otherwise, you have done
the non-mainstream jazz community a very large disservice that could have
and should have been avoided.

Sincerely,

Adrian Russell
c.c. CRTC

---------------

Date: 
Mon, 05 Mar 2001 12:24:55 -0500

Dear Conrad Collaco,

I have been listening to Bill Grove's What Is Jazz show almost since its
inception. I credit Bill for hugely expanding my musical taste, and also for
entertaining and enlightening me with his commentaries. The lite cocktail
crap you ran this morning from 7 am to 11 am could more correctly be called
What Isn't Jazz.

I heard the commentary that started this whole fracas and, while it may not
have been the most polished satire in the world, it could only be offensive
to the Nigerian religious zealots it was satirizing. It wasn't half as
offensive as the letter from CKLN management that's on Grove's website. I
suggest you start your own political re-education by reading Milan Kundera's
novel The Joke.

Anyways, I'm not going to argue with your stupidity. But I do want some
action. For many years, I have contributed to Bill's show during fundraising
as a thank you gesture for his presence. In the past few years, I
contributed $100 each year. You created the circumstance that made him leave
the station, so I want my money back. I hope you refund the other $3,000 or
so to Bill's loyal listeners.

Please mail my cheque where you send my program guide.

If you're checking your records, take note that I made another $100 donation
last fall to the Moondog Cafe rockabilly show, one of the few listenable
shows to survive on your station. As much as I like that show, I will be
unable to contribute again to any CKLN show as long as the present
narrow-minded regime remains in place.

Sincerely,

Ian Pearson

---------------

The Globe and Mail, Monday, March 5, 2001

Laughter is still the best medicine

By David Macfarlane


Not long ago there was a stage production of The Diary of Anne Frank. It was,
by all accounts, dreadful. The actors' sense of who they were portraying seemed
to shift as frequently as they changed accents and flubbed lines. People began
to squirm in their seats; there were eruptions of giggles and groans of
disbelief. Finally, one member of the audience could stand the travesty no
longer. When the Gestapo appeared on stage, he called out loudly: "She's in the
attic."

I'm not certain that this actually happened. Several readers have recounted the
story to me in response to a column I wrote a while ago about how best to
express an effective boo in a theatre. (Something that would have come in handy
the other night, let me tell you. There are times when play-going draws my
attention to the upside of draconian cutbacks to the arts. But that's another
matter.) I had heard the Anne Frank story before, with some slight variations of
time and place, and so I suspect that it circulates more as a joke than fact. A
joke, I admit, that I find funny.

But that you may not. It borders on the tasteless. It comes dangerously close to
making fun of a moving and much-loved story. That, I think, is precisely why
it's funny. It's funny because it's shocking. But you could go a step further in
the joke's defence. You could argue that by cutting through the flimsy pretense
of a bad production, the audience member was actually standing up for the
sanctity of the story of Anne Frank. He was saying, in effect, that it is too
important and too meaningful to have been treated with anything less then
respect by the theatre company that had decided to stage it.

Which brings me to the story of a Toronto jazz musician and radio-personality
named Bill Grove. A bit of a curmudgeon, a bit of an iconoclast, Grove is the
kind of adventurous musician that people often refer to as "difficult" or
"avant-garde" or "experimental." Adventurous music was frequently, but by no
means always, the kind he played for 17 years as a volunteer announcer on his
Monday morning radio show, What is Jazz?, broadcast on the Ryerson Polytechnic
University station CKLN in Toronto.

Grove's taste in music is reflected in his taste in humour. The outrageous
standup routines of Sam Kinison and Bill Hicks could be considered his comedic
parallels to the musical challenges of Ornette Coleman and Henry Threadgill.
While mild in comparison to the shock tactics of American radio personalities
such as Howard Stern or Don Imus, Grove had twice been warned by CKLN about his
on-air comments and had once served a brief suspension. Probably the station
would have much preferred it had he simply played his music. But Grove was in
the habit of interspersing music with outspoken on-air commentary. These
trademark rants were frequently inspired by simply reading Monday's Globe and
Mail (so I noted with anxiety). They were often funny and usually drenched with
indignation, outrage and sarcasm.

Such was the case on the morning of Jan. 11, when Grove commented on the case of
Bariya Ibrahim Magazu, the young Nigerian girl who had been sentenced to 180
lashes for engaging in premarital sex by the Islamic court of the northern state
of Zamfara.

The trial, it need hardly be said, was a travesty. The girl had no counsel.
There was good reason to suspect that she had been raped by three middle-aged
friends of her father's. The men, not surprisingly, denied the allegation since
admitting to it would mean that they would be stoned to death. But local
authorities, offering what they took to be leniency in the face of worldwide
outrage, conceded that the 180 lashes need not be meted out all at once. If the
whipping was spread out, so they reasoned, the beating likely wouldn't kill her.

This was too much for most people. And definitely too much for Bill Grove. In
the time-honoured tradition of Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal, he turned to
absurdity. He took distress to its most ridiculous conclusion. On-air he
suggested a better idea: one lash every three months for 45 years. No one
listening to his comments -- and you can hear them on Bill Grove's Web site at
http://www.billgrove.com -- could mistake them for anything but satire.

No one, that is, except a listener who called CKLN to complain -- a listener
who, in another time and place, may well have believed that Jonathan Swift often
enjoyed a good meal of pan-fried children for breakfast.

The complaint kicked into gear what CKLN calls its "core staff" -- a triumvirate
who maintain that they value Grove's work as a programmer, but who nonetheless
came to the conclusion that the complaint was justified. "The person who called
in," says Conrad Collaco, CKLN's station manager, "recognized that Bill was
trying to be sarcastic, but the punchline was uneccesarily glib and seemed to
include the girl as a target."

The "core staff" wrote to Grove. "Being facetious in commentary surrounding the
brutal oppression and victimization of a woman is not appropriate for public
broadcast." They demanded that he apologize for his remarks.

Instead Grove resigned. Things now sound different on Monday mornings on CKLN.
And the sound of people saying that we can't ridicule what richly deserves to be
ridiculed -- be it the Zamfara court in Nigeria, the statue-destroying Afghan
Taliban or an inexcusably lousy production of a play -- is the surprisingly
dangerous sound of nobody laughing. 

macf@interlog.com

      Copyright 2001 | The Globe and Mail

---------------

"Eugene C. Beck" wrote:

  Dear Bill,

As a longtime listener, I want to say how much your program will be missed.
It was good to read David MacFarlane's article in this morning's Globe and  Mail.
  One could not expect much more of an eloquent statement of the facts and
commentary on the whole sad mess.

  A letter on your web site suggested you try for something at CJRT, or as it
  is now called, Jazz FM91. I would second that motion : they are so in need
of real Jazz knowledge and taste. The morning show is especially painful as
  the host makes clear with each phrase that he has absolutely not one
  molecule of feeling or understanding for the material.

  Most respectfully,

  Eugene Beck, Toronto

From: Bill Grove <billgrove@idirect.com>
To:  "Eugene C. Beck" 
Subject: Re: Cheap Seats
Date:  Tue, 06 Mar 2001 18:13:58 -0500

Dear Eugene,
thank you so much for your kind letter. I simply
cannot imagine, given their shall we say bland take
on "jazz" thus far, that CJRT would particularly want the
likes of myself. But thanks for the career advice.
Perhaps the CBC seeks a replacement for Peter
Mansbridge (or Wendy Mesley!). I will always be
there to serve my country.....

BG

---------------

Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2001 6:37 PM
Subject: bill grove

Please add my voice to the many protesting the manner in which Bill Grove left CKLN. I am not a jazz fan, rather an intermittent car radio listener who catches a variety of shows at all times of the day and night. I have heard good hosts and bad, opinions of all sorts, and music of all kinds. I like the variety, and I am prepared to forgive a lot of stupidity in order to allow it to exist. I read the material on Grove's website, and agree most with the person who points out the arbitrary and unfair methods used to criticize his comments, while other idiotic statements, both offensive and inoffensive, seem to go unnoticed. You have to be careful; you can't work by fascist notes from committees; you have to understand where people are coming from in their statements. As most people are trying to point out, you committed an injustice greater than the original offense. You have lost this listener, and my financial support. I will give it to somebody who's really helping the oppressed.
 
Annice Blake 

---------------

Here is an open letter from Bill Grove to friends and listeners.

APOLOGIA

I would like to apologize. I would like to apologizeto all faithful/regular listeners
 who have enjoyed the show over the years; to those intense souls who have called
week after week with their comments, criticism and appreciation; to those who've sent me mail (and tapes and clipped-out articles and locks of hair!!!); and to the vast majority who simply turned the radio on each week to listen to the music, whether in their kitchens or workplaces or driving to work: I am sorry that the show has had to end in this abrupt and disappointing manner.

 Especially I would like to apologize to those hardy individuals who consistently rose to the challenge and pledged during CKLN's yearly fund-raising drives, making the show one of the station's most dependable sources of contributions. I am sorry but you seem to have been misled: your much-vaunted "listener-supported" radio station has seen fit to temporarily ignore your wishes. 

Finally I am sorry that certain elements within the
station have chosen to conduct this thinly-veiled witch hunt (oops, I shouldn't say witch, it's anti-woman). To accuse me of racism (or sexism or anything other than sarcasm) reflects only the limits and simplicity of my accusers' thought processes; to have to answer to such a crude analysis of my comments (in essence to have to apologize to such an us-versus-them, black-versus-white mentality) is more than I can do. I simply do not see black and white people as in opposition to each other. 

I'm sorry.

Bill Grove, Toronto, Feb. 01. 2001

---------------

COMING SOON

An  interview with Nilan Perera and Bill Grove
 broadcast live on CIUT on Friday, January 26, 2001 at
3:30 PM available via MP3 by e-mail request.

---------------

If you have any comments you would like to send to CKLN:  ckln@sac.ryerson.ca
If you would like to fax CKLN the number is 416-595-0226. If you would like to phone
 station manager Conrad Collaco or leave a message the number is 416-595-1477.
If you have comments for the Canadian Radio Telecommunications Commission:  info@crtc.gc.ca
Send any comments you have for Bill Grove to:  billgrove@idirect.com

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