Harry Flemming, reporter, editor, and columnist for several Canandian newspapers
Rob Cibik
Harry the Hat
The Chronicle-Herald (Halifax, NS)
Feb 20, 2008
HARRY FLEMMING had a strong opinion on almost everything, but waxed
most passionately on politics and baseball. He took no prisoners when
it came to discussing politicians and their policies, but had the most
fun displaying his love of and phenomenal memory for baseball and the
game's players.
When Harry the Hat died Saturday of cancer and pneumonia at age 74,
the lawyer-trained, lifelong journalist left behind a reputation for
speaking his mind, no matter the consequences.
Born in Boston, Mr. Flemming was raised in Truro, where he later
worked as a journalist for The Chronicle Herald. He also spent time in
this newspaper's Halifax head office writing editorials, before taking
his craft to the Globe and Mail in Toronto.
A graduate of Dalhousie University's law school, Mr. Flemming never
practised law, choosing to use his legal training to help bolster his
arguments in print or on the airwaves. While he became best known for
commenting on politics, Mr. Flemming ran for Parliament in 1968
against Tory stalwart Bob Coates in Cumberland-Colchester. Not even
the Trudeaumania of that year could get Mr. Flemming elected.
After Gerry Regan's Liberals squeaked out a win against Ike Smith's
Tories in 1970, Mr. Flemming eventually signed on as an adviser. When
a summons for Nova Scotians to embrace Ottawa's wage and price
controls using "the Dunkirk spirit" left scribes scratching their
heads at a press conference, the premier was quick to point the finger
at old Harry for evoking a phrase long out of fashion.
Mr. Flemming once tried to bridge the gap between journalism and
politics, only to fail miserably. He was forced to end abruptly a
speech on the relationship between his two loves when politicians and
scribes attending that year's annual press gallery dinner at the
legislature began throwing buns.
After politics, Mr. Flemming used his first-hand experiences to
enliven his columns, commentaries and appearances on television,
including a lengthy stint on CBC TV's weekly political panel with
Parker Donham, dubbed the Harry and Parker show. In recent years, Mr.
Flemming let his views be known in often cryptic letters to the editor
and in commentaries aired on Halifax's Information Radio.
Death may have silenced a prolific and opinionated commentator, but
the often cantankerous and always feisty Harry Flemming will long be
remembered.
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Editorial/1039096.html
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We'll never see another Harry
By BRIAN FLEMMING
The Chronicle-Herald (Halifax, NS)
Feb 20, 2008
Was it a cosmic coincidence that Harry Flemming chose to head for
journalist heaven during the same week as The Daily News - the last
newspaper for which Harry wrote regularly - closed its doors forever.
Perhaps not. Harry always had a supreme sense of the dramatic
gesture.
I first met Harry at The Chronicle Herald nearly 50 years ago when he
was an exalted editorial writer and I was a lowly summer student. He
and I, and many others who became addicted to good journalism, were
privileged to learn our art and craft in the soon-to-be-vacated Herald
Building on Argyle Street.
For me, then a teenager, the 20-something Harry was straight from
central casting for some film noir classic like The Front Page. The
iconic Harry wore his trademark fedora on the back of his head, smoked
like an ancient steam-driven train, and drank more than his fair share
of single-malt whisky.
Like me, and many others who became full-time or part-time
journalists, Harry was a lawyer. With his marvellous memory, Harry
would have been a formidable courtroom presence had he chosen that
career path. No case, however obscure, would have escaped his
encyclopedic mind. But journalism and politics, not the law, became
his jealous mistresses.
I recall when Harry wrote editorial obituaries for famous (or
infamous) recently departed Nova Scotians. He'd always say The
Chronicle Herald's practice was to "bury them deep," meaning there
would be no limits to the praise he'd pour on the heads of these
deceased Bluenoses. Now, it's Harry's turn.
A few years ago, Harry wrote his own obituary in The Daily News. It
was neither long nor boastful: Harry's copy was always admirably
"tight" and he never bragged about his accomplishments, which were
many. He thought all "obits" should be written that way.
I wrote a counter-column, saying the nearest most ordinary people came
to having a biography written about them was their obituary. The
deceased's family therefore had a duty to chronicle the deceased's
life, if for no other reason than to tell succeeding generations who
their ancestor really was.
Those were the glory days for Harry, when he shared the op-ed pages of
The Daily Snooze - journalists never respect the proper names of their
papers - with me and Parker Barss Donham, his sparring partner on the
wildly popular weekly CBC TV supper hour political panel. Even when
"overly refreshed," as Harry sometimes was, he was better than many
who'd never touched demon drink. His editors might have said, as
Abraham Lincoln did of the hard-drinking Ulysses S. Grant, "Tell me
what kind of whisky he drinks and I'll send a case of it to all my
generals."
When I learned of Harry's recent bout with cancer, I phoned him to
talk, and to try to lure him to lunch. His voice was more gravelly
than ever, but his sense of humour was intact. He wouldn't come to
lunch and resisted letting me come to his apartment to talk. He said
his illness would keep him from carrying his side of the conversation.
I told him that would be OK with me because I might finally get to
hold the floor, without the usual intelligent push-back Harry was
famous for.
One of Harry's fascinating features was his long political odyssey
from being a Trudeau Liberal candidate for Parliament in his hometown
of Truro in 1968 to becoming a crypto-libertarian in his last days.
Like many who scrabble for a living as a freelancer, Harry came to
resent the taxman's take. He was also repelled by what he believed was
the steady shrinking of citizens' freedoms by 20th-century
governments.
Harry voted Liberal for the first half of his life, but Conservative
for the last half. In that sense, he followed the well-worn path of
those who start life as lefties but end up as righties. That said, he
was always proud of having been part of one of the best premier's
offices in Nova Scotia history, that of Gerald A. Regan in the 1970s.
Whenever Harry and I attended events such as the annual levees - where
he always wore his black bowler - we'd tell people we were "cousins."
But then, he'd spoil our little lie by claiming he was descended from
proud Northern Irish Protestants, while I was merely the spawn of bog-
trotting "Catholics from Cork."
When will we see another Harry? Never, I fear. His breed of two-fisted
journalists is becoming as extinct as the dodo. Pity.
Rest in peace, Harry.
Brian Flemming is a lawyer, journalist and former Liberal organizer.
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Columnists/1039099.html
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FLEMMING, Harry John
FLEMMING, Harry John - 74, of 2001 Brunswick St., Halifax, died
peacefully with family nearby on February 16, 2008, in the Halifax
Infirmary, QEII. Born in Boston, Mass., he was the son of the late
John A. and Edna Tays Flemming. Raised in Truro, he was a graduate of
Mount Allison University and Dalhousie University Law School. He was a
journalist for 50 years, having been an editorial writer for The
Chronicle Herald and The Globe and Mail and a columnist for The Daily
News. For some years he was a weekly political commentator on CBC TV's
First Edition program. Most recently he recorded short commentaries on
Halifax Information Radio. In the late 1970's Harry created and edited
a weekly newspaper, Barometer, published by H.H. Marshall, Ltd. He
also worked for the federal Atlantic Development Board, was executive
vice-president of the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council and was a
political advisor in the government of Premier Gerald Regan. He was
the Liberal candidate for Cumberland-Colchester in the 1968 federal
general election. Harry was married to Glen Maureen (Perry) Flemming,
Halifax, and is also survived by daughters, Cara Flemming, Toronto,
and Dr. Anne Flemming, Vancouver; son, Andrew and daughter-in-law
Susan; and grandchildren, Kate, William and Sean Flemming, Halifax;
sister, Carolyn MacDonald, Truro. He will be missed by his dear
friend, Lois Swain and her daughter Glenda. Besides his parents, Harry
was predeceased by brother-in-law, Donald "Lick" MacDonald. Harry was
grateful to Lois and his family, especially daughter-in-law Susan, for
their help and support during his brief illness. Thanks are extended
to staff in the emergency room and Section 8.2 at the Halifax
Infirmary, QEII, for the extraordinary care they gave Harry during his
few days in hospital. As he wished, his body was donated to medical
science, and remains will be interred in Gay's River Cemetery,
Colchester Co., at a later date. Visitation and a reception to
celebrate Harry's life and to reminisce will be held on Sunday,
February 24, from 1-4 p.m. at Ashburn Golf Club, 3250 Joseph Howe Dr.,
Halifax. If you wish, donations may be made to the charity of your
choice.
http://thechronicleherald.ca/announcements/display.php?anntype=obituaries~2008/02/18~16449756