CBC broadcaster Rick Cluff, ex-host of Vancouver's The Early Edition, dead at 74

Former CBC radio journalist and personality Rick Cluff, who was the longtime host of The Early Edition morning show in Vancouver, has died at the age of 74. Cluff is seen in a radio studio in an undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-CBC, Wendy D

Former CBC radio journalist and personality Rick Cluff, who has died at the age of 74, is being remembered for allowing guests to be themselves on air and always supporting his colleagues and community.

Cluff, a longtime sports reporter who went on to host The Early Edition morning show in Vancouver from 1997 until he retired in 2017, died Tuesday, shortly after being diagnosed with cancer, CBC reported.

Laura Palmer, who worked on The Early Edition in various roles and went on to be its executive producer, said Cluff was genuine, both on the air and in his everyday life.

"He was really a very kind, generous, sweet human being. And you probably could tell from listening to him, but he was very fun," she said.

"He loved having a good time and he wanted people around him to feel that they could sit down and have a coffee with him and just be their authentic selves."

Palmer said his personality and professionalism meant she was always comfortable asking people to be on the show, whether it was a high-ranking politician or an average citizen with no experience being on the radio.

"I felt completely comfortable telling them, 'Look, you're going to be OK, you're going to sit down with Rick Cluff and he's going to make you feel like that five minutes is the fastest five minutes of your life.' People really felt like they knew they were going to get a fair shake," she said.

Palmer said Cluff was always happy to be at the office, meticulously dressed — even at 4 a.m. — and interested in the lives of his colleagues.

"If he knew you, he would (really) know you, know your family, if you were having a baby, or you were going through a divorce, or your father had died, or really anything. He would talk to you about it."

A biography posted by the Canadian Football Hall of Fame and Museum, where Cluff was inducted in 1999, says he began his career with the CBC in 1976 and worked in the national sports department for 20 years, before moving to Vancouver.

Palmer said that while sports were an important part of Cluff's career, he wanted people to know that he had other interests.

"He also wanted people to know that he had studied politics and theology and he was really interested in religion, and there was just a lot more to him than being the sports guy," she said.

The Radio Television Digital News Association of Canada gave him its lifetime achievement award for the West region in 2018.

The association said at the time that Cluff's greatest contributions were in local radio, through the impact he had on audiences, decades of quiet mentorship and his community leadership.

The CBC reported that Cluff retired from his 41-year career with the broadcaster in 2017, after undergoing a quadruple heart bypass.

It said he was survived by his wife, son, daughter and five grandchildren. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 2, 2024.