Year Born: 1931
Year Died: 2017
Year of Induction: 2005
Member of CAB Hall of Fame
Mair, Rafe (1931- )
Rafe Mair was born on December 31, 1931 in Vancouver where he was educated, finally graduating from the University of British Columbia with an LL.B in 1956. After a brief visit to the oil industry followed by work with a lumber company, he then became a claims adjuster for an insurance company.
He entered the Law business in 1960 and after articling he was called to the bar in 1961. Rafe eventually formed his own practice in Vancouver, and then moved to Kamloops, where he formed a law partnership that later became the biggest law firm in B.C.’s interior.
Rafe entered Politics in 1973 as an alderman and then the B.C. Legislature in 1975, and served in the Provincial Legislature until 1981; he was the cabinet minister responsible for Constitutional Affairs at the time of the repatriation of the Constitution.
It was in 1981 that CJOR Vancouver hired Rafe for a morning public affairs talk show -“The Rafe Mair Show”. His wit and cutting edge delivery drew large audiences, and finally in 1984, CKNW wooed him over, where he did several different talk shows culminating in a revival of the Rafe Mair Show from 8:30 am till 11:00 am, which became the highest rated program in western Canada.
September 2003 saw the Rafe Mair Show back at AM 600, now on CKBD, and most of his audience moved with him. He did his last show for the station in October 2005.
Rafe is the author of six books: The Last Cast, about his beloved sport of fly fishing, Canada: Is Anyone Listening, Rants, Raves and Recollections, Still Ranting, Rafe; A Memoir, and Hard Talk.
Outspoken, always the politician, Rafe earned a houseful of awards, among them the B.C. Association of Broadcasters’ Performer of the Year Award in 1993, the Michener Award from the Governor-General for courageous journalism in 1995 (the first broadcaster to receive a Governor-General’s Award) and the Bruce Hutchison Award for Lifetime Achievement, at the Jack Webster Award Dinner in 2003.
In 2005, Rafe Mair was inducted into the CAB Hall of Fame.
Rafe Mair died on Monday October 9th after a period of ill-health.