André Arthur: « the Formula 1 of communication »
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André Arthur firmly believed that « you have no right to be flat on the radio ». He did not disappoint in this regard until the end of his career, even if he was not always in lace, say people who knew him.
• Read also: Former radio host André Arthur has died
“Arthur was a Formula 1 communicator, but he lacked brakes in tight corners”, illustrates his faithful collaborator for ten years at CJRP and CHRC, Myriam Ségal.
He could therefore slip up, “but people forgave him, and he trusted the judgment of his listeners. He said to himself that if they don’t like it, they will leave, ”she says.
Archival photo
The popular radio host André Arthur on the airwaves of CHRC, in Quebec, in the early 80s.
In full control
The death of the former star presenter on Sunday shook the world of radio and provoked many reactions.
Irreverent at will and in full control of his media, André Arthur was not afraid of his opinions or to defend them to the end, which sometimes got him into trouble.
Those who knew him recognize his « innate talent » as a communicator, storyteller and popularizer, coupled with great intelligence.
« It’s the host who showed me everything about my job » and « a model in terms of interviews, » says Ms. Ségal. “He really had the art of making the other speak”.
Listen to the Stréliski-Cyr meeting at the microphone of Geneviève Pettersen, on QUB radio:
« A sense of timing exceptional »
“He had a sense of timing exceptional in the way of saying things […]. You didn’t leave during the break to see what was happening in the other stations because Arthur had kept you hooked, a little sitting on the edge of your chair, ”says radio host Stéphane Gasse.
« Okay, of course, sometimes, with a style that had no damn good blood and business that has been said, which has no pace », launches the one who rubbed shoulders with Arthur at CJMF from 1998 to 2001 , then to CHOI and BLVD.
Archival photo
André Arthur was elected independent MP for the federal riding of Portneuf–Jacques-Cartier twice, in 2006 and 2008. In the photo, we see him during his second election campaign, on September 18, 2008.
Black or white
“He wasn’t into nuance, to say the least. It was white, it was black, there was no shade of gray with André Arthur, that’s what the listeners appreciated, ”underlines Nathalie Normandeau, who received him for chronicles on her show when they officiated at BLVD in Quebec.
Mr. Arthur was fired from this station in 2018 after calling Saint-Jean Street an “AIDS boulevard” on his show.
“We often disagreed, but it was okay, it was like that. Him, it was him, me, it was me », admits the former Deputy Prime Minister, who nevertheless retains « an extremely precious and positive memory of [sa] collaboration with André Arthur”.
Archival photo
On March 10, 2015, he gave an interview to the Journal at his home in the Sainte-Foy sector, in Quebec.
At the turn of the 1980s, the « king of the airwaves » was making rain and shine in Quebec City as morning man the most listened to.
« He was absolutely uncompromising in his vision of making radio » even if « there were people scratched in the process », remarks Alain Dufresne, director of the College radio television of Quebec.
« He, what he was essentially saying was: ‘You have no right to be flat on the radio' », he points out. A mantra that many of his collaborators have heard.
Archival photo
Host Marc Simoneau, who died on May 3, 2013, and André Arthur at the microphone of the CJRP station, from Quebec, on January 31, 1984.
Proximity to its audience
Senator Josée Verner, for her part, notes the “closeness” that André Arthur had with his public, which served him well to become one of the rare independent deputies from Quebec to be elected at the federal level.
“He understood the dynamics of his riding (Portneuf–Jacques-Cartier) well,” she says of the 2006 and 2008 elections that brought her to the House of Commons.
On a human level, « he was a real gentleman », adds the one who had kept in touch with the radio man.
A man « integrated and intense »
“He was a man of integrity and intensity and he lived with integrity and intensity. He had a deep respect for the audience. »
– Myriam Ségal, retired animator
“It is a radio monument that is leaving. He was perhaps the greatest communicator on radio, love him or hate him. »
– Bruno Perron, who collaborated with André Arthur on CHRC in the 90s
“I’m not like him at all, but he made me see things differently and that’s always been good for me. »
– Stéphan Dupont, who worked with André Arthur at CKNU
“Arthur is one of the people who have transformed the profession, for better or for worse. We can clearly say that before Arthur, the radio was done in one way and after Arthur, it was done in a different way. […] I think that gave a lot of animators a lot of freedom. »
– Alain Dufresne, director of the Radio and Television College of Quebec
“He realized that if you solicited the animosity, the aggression, the resentment of the general population, you could make a tremendous fireworks display with that. »
– Claude Thibodeau, analyst and former co-owner of CJMF
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