01/07/2026
As many of you will now know from news reports or the radio grapevine, Bruce Bowie is no longer with us, having tragically passed after being struck by a car in a crosswalk in Niagara Falls. Bruce was my dear friend for 44 years, and of course we enjoyed so much in our years together at CHED. Just before BB (our nicknames were our initials) retired, he called to say “GW, Mary and I need to come over. We have something to tell you and Joan.”
I was hoping he’d bought another ‘70 Mustang and wanted to park it in the garage over the winter, but instead he announced they were moving to Ontario to be closer to Mary’s ageing mom, and I was floored. We’d always had big post-retirement plans. With Bruce up at 3 AM for decades, planning get togethers came with challenges, and we’d talked of returning to the studio to once again host a show together, perhaps an old DJ radio podcast. We had so many memories to revisit—joint birthday parties for our kids, crazy garage sales, “planning sessions” at Taco Trail, producing Mosquito Man at my studio for syndication—and more memories to make from river canoeing and car shows, to playing with full-size Tonka toys on the acreage.
I will always cherish how Bruce enriched my life, the good times at CHED but especially the more regular guy stuff: assembling IKEA furniture after BB moved to Calgary and getting it so wrong the desk looked like a boot rack; solving winter driveway traction problems on our nearby rural properties, “GW, the Bronco’s tires stunk up the garage for a week. I’ve got to tell you, the kitty litter wasn’t supposed to be used!”
Since learning of Bruce’s death, I’ve felt like a moose is sitting on my chest. BB would find that turn of phrase funny, if only he could tell me so in person, the weight would lift. Adios BB. I hope I’m going to same place you most definitely are in, and we can share a plate full of tacos. Meanwhile, the memories will endure.
