Stan Thomas shares experiences of the highs and lows of Saskatchewan TV

Stan Thomas has seen a few things on Saskatoon television over the years.

Now 89, Thomas joined Gormley to promote his new book “Life in Early Television: The Good, The Bad and The Funny.”

The Saskatoon TV personality told Gormley how Thomas began his career in television.

“Four of us that started Grade 1 together all ended up in CFQC TV,” he said. “But then we went off. Most of us went on to long, long TV careers and mainly other stations.”

Working in television had always been what Thomas wanted to do in life.

“We always had a lot of activity in theatre in Bedford,” he said. “And I always wanted to be a ham actor, I guess, but things didn’t quite work out. But that’s another yarn.”

Thomas shared another “yarn” in his book about how he played a role in political history.

He and a small group once were in a room with John Diefenbaker. Thomas’ group spent so much time following Diefenbaker, they gave themselves a name.

“We called ourselves the Praetorian Guard because we were sort of following along on his coattails all the time at that leadership convention,” Thomas said.

Despite having suffered two strokes, Thomas managed to write his new book entirely by hand. He explained to Gormley how his medical history affected him.

“I did record all my collected poetry, and that’s on a disc,” Thomas said. “And fortunately it was recorded before I had my second stroke. That knocked out my writing hand and also my throat to a degree. But I can still be heard.”

He showed his playful personality in telling Gormley listeners where to find his book.

“They’re on sale at McNally Robinson — at a very modest price, I might add,” Thomas said “It’s a good read.”

The full interview can be found on the Gormley podcast page.