George Garrett: Intrepid Reporter

“George Garrett is one of the most remarkable reporters of news that I have ever known. He has always had the ability to smell a good story and to report on it honestly and accurately.” —Jim Pattison, Canadian business magnate Starting from humble beginnings as a farm boy in Saskatchewan, George Garrett rose through the ranks of journalism and came to be known as the reporter who, as radio personality Rafe Mair recalled, “seemed to know details almost as soon as the police did” on such infamous stories as the Clifford Olson murders. He was willing to take risks to get to the real story, which resulted in his being assaulted in the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles among many other scrapes. In this memoir, Garrett shares the behind-the-scenes tales of his harrowing, humorous and occasionally humiliating investigative tactics, from posing as an accident victim to uncover the questionable practices of an insurance claim lawyer, to acting as a tow truck driver to expose a forgery scheme, and baring it all for the sake of an interview with a local nudist colony. Garrett also delves into the personal details of his life, sharing the hardships and resilience that marks him as an empathetic storyteller. He reveals the heartbreaking loss of his son in a canoeing accident, and his wife Joan’s devastating diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease which inspired him to dedicate his time to supporting the Alzheimer Society. Through it all, George Garrett never lost the insatiable curiosity that, according to Rafe Mair, made him the “standard by which good reporting is judged.”