New book looks back at the life of Gord Downie
Posted February 11, 2018 9:18 am.
Last Updated October 18, 2021 12:08 pm.
KINGSTON, ON. (NEWS 1130) – For generations of Canadians, there was no better homegrown band than The Tragically Hip. NEWS 1130 caught up with the author of a new book dedicated to its late frontman.
Titled simply, Gord Downie, the coffee-table style book is the work of long-time Georgia Straight music writer Steve Newton, who interviewed Downie five times between 1989 and 1996, and still has the tapes to show for it.
“Most of my interviews are done over the phone. I record them and put them on tape and I’ve digitized a bunch of them. There’s a whole bunch of them on [my] website and I guess the publisher saw that and figured I was the guy to ask and I didn’t turn it down.”
Newton adds if there is one thing he hopes people take away from the book is Downie‘s tremendous work ethic, right to the very end.
He adds Downie was single-minded about his craft. “He really looked at it as work. He would emphasize that in some of the interviews. His work ethic was amazing. That’s what I took away, just how dedicated and devoted he was. I admired him a lot for that. Not just the music, but just the work. He just… he never gave up.”
The book is 188 pages and was published by Indigo Press.
Downie passed away at the age of 53 on Oct. 17, 2017. He had previously been diagnosed with an aggressive and incurable form of brain cancer called glioblastoma which was discovered following a seizure he had in December of 2015.
