Mon, 27 Jun 22 20:07:05 +0000

38 years later, reporter Marian Scott says goodbye to The Gazette

Newsroom veterans were arguably at their best when writing about the heritage of Montreal and the rich history of Quebec.

"I had a great run in the gusset, but all Time — and now is the time to explore other ideas, topics, and writing styles, and you don't have to give in to challenges or deadlines, ”says Marian Scott. Photo: John Mahony/Montreal Gazette

Montreal Gazette journalist Marianscot has been around for nearly 40 years. I have produced it thoroughly over the years. The studied and elegantly created story is brought to the award-winning report to write a sense of curiosity and deep humanity.

This month she decided to leave a paper to pursue other projects. "I had a great run in the gusset, but I have all the time, and now it's time to explore other ideas, topics, and writing styles, and I don't have to give in to challenges or deadlines," she says. I did. Scott became her recent grandmother.

Alex Norris, a longtime Projet Montreal city council member in the Plateau-Mont-Royal district and now the majority leader of the council, is a former Gazette colleague. "As a fellow reporter and an elected official, Marian always knew that she was deeply concerned about the story she wrote and made every effort to make it nuanced, informative and interesting. "He said. "Her love for Montreal-the city, its history, and its people-has always shined in her journalism."

Scott says she works. It brought clarity, elegance and a clever literary touch to almost every story, but it was arguably the best when it came to writing about the heritage of Montreal and the rich history of Quebec.

"Her heritage and interest in the history of Montreal's region and community is realistic and personal and contributes significantly to her article," said Heritage Montreal's Policy Director. One Dinu Bumbal says.

"Providing readers with accurate information and balanced views, but also helping them understand the elements and dimensions of the rich complexity of buildings and people without their discovery. By doing so, there is also a sense of learning. Montreal. "

Bumbaru successfully fights and destroys Old Montreal to save Old Montreal from theBlanche Lemco van Ginkel,elevated highway project. Historical neighborhood from.

"What would happen without Old Montreal. There is no Old Port, Jack Cartier Square, or the" riverside place "where Susanne of Leonard Cohen drops you. Scott asked at the beginning of that 2012 story. "Collapsed highways and constant traffic congestion. Without Blanche Remco van Ginkel and her late husband, Daniel Van Ginkel, Montreal would be like today."

Bumbal also quoted Scott's story about's efforts to save the area now known as Chinatown. One of its oldest Protestant churches, today is the Catholic Mission in China. In May, Scott participated in a panel discussion on the conservation and revitalization of Chinatown at the McCord Museum, hosted by Heritage Montreal.

"I have always loved heritage and history — and the story will grow from it," she said. For example, she learned that until about 10,000 years ago, Montreal was covered by the Champlan Sea: Today, the road ribbon stretched and only the top of Mount Royal was above the surface. Whale swan.

Her fascinating feature of how the waters shaped the city was Eve O in 2009. She won the Fortier Earth Science Award. Andrew Phillips, then editor-in-chief of the Gazette, said the award demonstrated Scott's talent as a writer. "She can take what might look like a normal subject and turn it into her fascinating reading," he said.

Raymond Brothers, editor-in-chief when Scott received the Newsroom Writing Award, named after former Gazette editor Norman Webster, said: Her tireless efforts to reveal Wilbert Coffin's tragic story towere ranked as one of the highlights of the 2006 Gazette.

A Gaspe explorer, who was hanged for the brutal killing of a Pennsylvanian bear hunter in a Gaspe bush in 1956, protested his innocence to the shackle. .. "Many believe he is a scapegoat," Scott said in her story — and the Dupresis government at the time was a swift belief in protecting tourism in Quebec and soothing US authorities. I was hoping for.

In 2011, Scott won the National Newspaper Award for her inspiring profile of AlmatineDavid Fortin, who went missing after being bullied in February 2009. Did. She won the Judith Jasmine Award from Quebec for the same features.

"I have always loved heritage and history — and The story then grows, "said Marian Scott.Photo courtesy of John Mahoney/Montreal Gazette

She talks about racial discrimination and profiling, "lighting on deep and destructive roots. I often write in the story of "guessing." It's a matter of racial discrimination in this city, "said Fo Niemi, co-founder and executive director of the Center for Racial Research Activities. He especially remembers Scott's 2019 story about a black worker at Société du Parc Jean-Drapeau,Bienné Blemur,racially harassed and called N-word.

"By calling out to these victims, she used the power of her pen and keyboard to expose her racial injustice," Niemi said.

Scott grew up in the lower part of Westmount and attended Roslyn School and Westmount High School. Her father, a journalist, led Time magazine, the first editorial office in Montreal, a suburb of New York. He was assigned to London in the early 1970s and Scott lived there for some time. "My friends were very international," she recalled. "Here in Quebec, there are this French and English binaries, but there are many languages in Europe."

When she returned to Montreal, she was for "another kind of challenge." I chose to study at the University of Montreal. Among her professors was Guy Bautilia, president of the Saint Jean Baptiste Society of Montreal, and on campus there was support for the Wi movement in favor of separation from Canada.

After graduating with a degree in political science and French literature in 1980, Scott spent a year at the Capitol as a researcher at the time, David Berger. rice field. "It was a great learning experience, but politics wasn't mine," she recalled.

In 1981 she joined the CBC radio station in Quebec as a researcher and soon became a writer's broadcaster. Her time included remote broadcasts from areas such as Saguenay–Lac-St-Jean and Gaspé, as well as a series in a small village on the Lower North Shore of Quebec. She remembered that each village had its own culture.

"I don't think you can understand Quebec unless you live outside Montreal and go out into the area," she said.

Barbara Utec, executive producer of CBC Radio when Scott worked in Quebec City, said of her: Her energy and curiosity made her the perfect story producer. And she made a mean apple pie.

Still, just as Scott loved radio, "I felt like a printman," she said. "I was really familiar with writing." In July 1984, she began working as a general affairs reporter in the Gazette.

Few people knew that she and Gazette's colleague Luis Harris were a couple, except for her close friend. They met when she was at the CBC and he was at the Quebec City Branch of Gazette. They got married in 1987 and had two sons, Benjamin and Samuel. Harris died of pancreatic cancer in October 1999. He was 51 years old.

Scott's special strength was his ability to weave history, politics, and human drama into stories about important Quebec events such as theEcole Polytechnique. Between the 1989 slaughter, the mass shooting of anti-feminists who killed 14 women, and the1990 Oka crisis, Mohawk protesters, police, and troops in the Kanesatake community. 78 days conflict, near Oka.

"The slaughter in Montreal embodies feelings about women's right to non-traditional professions," she said. "And the Oka crisis has brought the notion of indigenous rights to the fore in a way that was not previously emphasized."

For Scott, journalism is in many ways the first in history. It's a draft and she says she's honored to be part of it.

sschwartz @ postmedia. com