N E W V O I C E O F N E X G E N H E A R I N G Tony Parsons: A life in the News …continued on page 7 With a love for Italian cuisine, on November 23, 2009, he opened a Vancouver restaurant, The Poor Italian in which he has a part ownership stake. You can read about in Tony’s book; A Life in the News published by Harbour Pub- lishing. It’s a fabulous read, one which un- veils much about Tony’s interesting past. His memoir takes the reader through his life from wartorn Europe as a child to his early days in radio to his career in TV newscasting - through the 80’s, 90’s and to the present day where he en- joys quality time with his wife Tammy. Even if you’re not interested in journal- ism and the inner workings of the me- dia machine, I’m confident you’ll love reading about his past including his thoughts working with co-anchor Pa- mela Martin. Tony also speaks candidly about his take on where“the news”is go- ing, his trusty pet dog that sat at his feet for more than a decade’s worth of broad- casts and even his personal struggles with alcohol and finally, coming to terms with his decision to leave the position he held for so long. harbourpublishing.com I think it’s pretty safe to say that if you grew up in British Columbia any time over the past 40 years you know who Tony Parsons is. His three and a half decades as the anchor of The News Hour on BCTV/Global (formerly CHAN- TV) made him the debonair man that we all came to know, and loved to get our nightly news from. After all, the day just wasn’t complete unless we came home to Tony and the 6 o’clock news each day. His family immigrated to Canada from England in 1948, settling in Feversham, Ontario. After a year studying radio and television arts at the Ryerson Institute in Toronto, Anthony (Tony) Parsonage as he was known then, looked for work at Ontario radio stations and eventually shortened his name to Tony Parsons. His first broadcasting job was as a country and western DJ at CJCS in Ontario. In fact, he worked at various radio jobs in Guelph, Hamilton and Stratford, before landing in Toronto. After a brief stint with CHUM radio, he took his first television job as a reporter at CFTO-TV, a CTV affiliate. Having that ideal, resonating voice for broadcast, Parsons soon advanced to become the late evening anchor at CFTO until 1975, when he accepted the opportunity to fill the 6:00 anchor spot on CHAN-TV (later known as BCTV) in Vancouver, BC, where he remained for more than 35 years. Parsons was also the anchor of the national edition of Canada Tonight, a CHAN-produced newscast which aired outside of BC on stations owned by Western International Com- munications until that company was acquired by the Global Television Net- work. In 2004, his career achievements were recognized and he was recognized with the prestigious Bruce Hutchison Lifetime Achievement Award by the Jack Webster Foundation. Parsons even had a cameo as a TV anchor in the 2001 film Saving Silverman (also known as Evil Woman). The same year he appeared, once again as a news anchor, in the Jack Nicholson film  The Pledge. Tony Parsons has covered some of the biggest stories in BC during a broadcast- ing career spanning more than 50 years. It’s safe to say that Parsons, was once Canada’s most-watched anchor while at Global BC. In recognition of his talents Parsons, was inducted into the Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame in 2009. On December 16, 2009, Parsons anchored his final newscast at Global BC as anchor of the News Hour for a planned retirement. However, just 3 months later he reappeared on the air, bringing star power to the 10 p.m. newscast on CHEK News, and later began anchoring CBC News Vancouver, with the final 30 minutes of the 90-minute 5 p.m. newscast simulcast on CHEK. When he was doing double-duty, Parsons would fly Heli-jet to Victoria to host CHEK’s 10 p.m. news after doing the Vancouver news broadcast. Parsons’ involvement with CHEK News was inspired by his admiration for its employees, he said at the time. He said he was impressed that they had “a little fire in their bellies”— enough to put up their own money to save the station from potential extinction after previous owner, Canwest Global Communica- tions, announced plans to shut it down in 2009. The new voice for Hearing Loss As though on cue with National Hearing Aware- ness month in Canada, Tony Parsons stepped out of retirement to become the official voice for NexGen Hearing, a BC hearing aid retailer with 48 clinics in the province. Tony’s story is an interesting one. Tony Parsons: a lesson worth hearing –as told by Tony Parsons Like so many other seniors, I’ve admittedly been reluctant to acknowledge the shortcomings that go with the aging process. You know what we’re like, after all we hear just fine! It’s not our fault if everyone else mumbles. I hear what I want to hear and that’s good enough for me. That’s when some friends convinced me to try the free hearing test at NexGen Hearing in Kelowna.  Audiologist Colin VanBergen and his team made the whole experience a pleasure and after the test I came to know that I do indeed have a rather significant problem with my hearing. Since then, I have seen an ENT surgeon and have gradually ob- tained knowledge about my hearing deficiency. Both hearing professionals have patiently schooled me on some of the aspects of my hearing loss.  Today I’m now wearing hearing aids and yes, I admit now that I needed them years ago. Con- sonants and I are becoming friends again and oddly enough…my wife doesn’t seem to mumble anymore! Much to my surprise they are so helpful, and quite discreet. I spent years as a broad- caster with a hearing device jammed in one ear so I could stay in touch with the director of my nightly newscast. Maybe that had something to do with my hearing issue, one I steadfastly denied. I’ve since learned about NexGen Hearing and what makes them different, as they have an established purpose to go far beyond just product sales. They truly care about people and their quality of life. That’s rare! I have since been approached by Marke Ham- bley, President of NexGen Hearing, asking that I consider a role in the company. Today, I am delighted to say that I have committed to speaking out about hearing loss as the official spokesperson for NexGen Hearing and the Hear 4U Foundation. The first commercial endorsement I have ever accepted, I might add! The dog ate my hearing aids Oh, and by the way, I’ve become so comfortable wearing my new hearing aids that recently I stepped into the shower still wearing them. Yikes! I realized it just in time, and yanked them back to safety. Then I came close to losing them again. I had carelessly left them on a small table and much to my horror Morley, one of my dogs, tried to make a meal of them. Another rescue mission and thankfully no damage! How would I explain that to my Audiologist!? Considering that 1 in 4 Canadians suffer some form of hearing loss, I urge you to not delay as I did. Call NexGen Hearing and take advantage of their free Hearing Test! 5 | HEARING TODAY NEXT GENERATION OF HEARING CARE | 6