March 11, 2010 @ 19:48
I attended a full day at Canadian Music Week today and I was inspired. Not so much by the panels I attended. I was more inspired by a meeting that took place in the Business Centre of the Royal York Hotel.
I was there to drop something off for a friend when I ran into Liz Janik. Liz and I go way back to the formative days of CFNY. The late 70's and early 80's when a special group of people made a meager living while having a whole lot of fun at a great little radio station.
Liz left the station in the late 80's and went on to become a programmer, consultant and researcher which led to the formation of Janik Media.
But that's not what this story is about. It's about Liz and her eyes.
About seven years ago Liz developed a disease that slowly took her sight away to the point where two years ago she was declared legally blind. It was horrible. Still very young with a lot of life to live and a lot of knowledge to share she was literally grounded by the disease.
I saw Liz a couple of times over the past few years and it was sad to see what had happened to her and whenever I'd hear her name mentioned or see her picture in trade magazines I'd get a lump in my throat and a twist in my stomach.
But today that all changed. I walked up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder expecting I'd have to identify myself, but when she turned around she burst out with a greeting I didn't expect.
"Freddie, it's great to see you."
She was wearing glasses and she knew exactly who I was because she could see who it was and as she gave me a hug she told me the wonderful story.
She had undergone several diagnosis' and tests and eventually doctors attempted a surgery that could have gone either way.
Lucky for Liz it went the right way.
She woke up after the operation and the first thing she saw was something she hadn't seen in a couple of years.
"I saw the back of my hand and saw how old I had gotten" she said "And now I can see how old you've gotten Freddie, but you're not bad for an old guy."
It really was a great moment. As I've said many times on this blog I will always have a special place in my heart for the old crew from CFNY. We were family.
I've kept in touch with some, lost touch with too many and a couple of others have passed away.
Liz Janik is doing just fine.
Category: Friends | Radio
March 12, 2010 / 10:27
Her Sunday morning broadcasts always made my weekends. This is great news!
March 12, 2010 / 11:39
Ah, I remember Liz's voice so vividly. Thanks for the memories Freddie. So glad Liz is doing well...
March 12, 2010 / 13:02
That was the way radio should be. Radio sucks now. Thank God for XM.
March 12, 2010 / 16:42
Liz gave my record label and band its first on-air 'break' on CFNY's "Independent Network" show every Sunday! Good to hear she has gotten her sight back!
March 12, 2010 / 17:45
My first day in radio was April 1, 1988 ( i think ) I worked my first op shift on Kennnedy road just after Liz and Peter were finsihing up 'The Streets of Ontario'. I won't get into it, but their kindness paved the way to 22 years in the industry. Glad to hear your're doing well Liz!
March 12, 2010 / 23:41
Thats awesome, I forgot about Liz back in the day, she was a great voice to hear on CFNY, I echo what Trish mentioned maybe a special guest on a Humble and Fred Podcast?
March 14, 2010 / 09:21
Hi Freddie! thanks for the kind words! I want to reassure you that it was not a 'horrible' experience, it was difficult at times for sure! But I was blessed with good friends and family to help me, and I continued to work and teach. (Had to improve my memory, but that was a good thing, given that I am a blonde!) I learned so much and was happy in my new 'smaller world'.
It WAS wonderful to see you again - and so many other friendly faces - at CMW.
XO>
LiiZ
ps thank you all for sharing your memories -
March 14, 2010 / 09:41
PS: Freddie I should pass along one more bit of information:
It was Artificial Sweeteners that damaged my eyes. They are made from petrochemicals, and are extremely toxic.
October 24, 2010 / 23:37
I admire the valuable information you supply in your posts. I'll bookmark your weblog and check again here repeatedly. I'm quite sure I'll learn lots of new stuff right here!
October 25, 2010 / 01:23
I Can See I Can See | Canadian Thinker by Freddie P. is a pretty good article. I simply found your blog and wished to say that I've actually enjoyed reading your blog posts. Any way I'll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you post once more soon.
October 25, 2010 / 10:02
Spent my time to read all the comments, however I actually loved the post I Can See I Can See | Canadian Thinker by Freddie P.. It proved to be very useful to me and I am certain to all of the commenters here! I'll get your feed, please keep on writing!
October 26, 2010 / 21:58
Dreamin. I love blogging. You all express your feelings the right way, because they are your feeling, focus on your blog it is great.
October 27, 2010 / 08:37
This is such a fantastic useful resource that you are providing and also you give it away for free. I love seeing websites that perceive the worth of offering a quality useful resource for free. Great work!
October 27, 2010 / 22:55
I really like your wordpress theme, wherever do you download it through?
October 28, 2010 / 06:49
Dreamin. I love blogging. You all express your feelings the right way, because they are your feeling, focus on your blog it is great.
October 28, 2010 / 11:00
Excellent post ! i enjoyed reading your blog. You make some brilliant points very nice realization. keep it up
October 28, 2010 / 12:46
Well, I don’t know if that is going to work for me, but definitely worked for you! :) Excellent post!
October 28, 2010 / 22:57
I take pleasure in the comments on this website, it really gives it that community experience!
October 29, 2010 / 03:37
This is a really good read for me, Must admit that you are one of the best bloggers I ever saw.Thanks for posting this informative article. wajadud555
October 29, 2010 / 11:22
If you could email me with a few suggestions on how you made your blog look this good, I would be grateful.
October 30, 2010 / 06:28
Very fascinating post - might be old, but it was new to me. I needed to thank you for this nice article I Can See I Can See | Canadian Thinker by Freddie P.! I undoubtedly loved reading every bit of it. I have you bookmarked to check out new articles you write.
October 30, 2010 / 09:03
Once I came over to this blog post I can only see part of it, is this my web internet browser or the internet web site? Should I restart?
October 31, 2010 / 02:42
I love the way you write and also the theme on your blog. Did you code this yourself or was it done by a professional? I'm very very impressed.
October 31, 2010 / 06:01
Let me start by saying nice post. Im not sure if it has been talked about, but when using Chrome I can never get the entire site to load without refreshing many times. Could just be my computer. Thanks.
October 31, 2010 / 09:44
This blog doesn't render appropriately on my i phone - you may wanna try and repair that
October 31, 2010 / 10:15
Kudos to you! This is a really good blog here and I love your style of writing. How did you get so good at blogging?
October 31, 2010 / 21:20
What are the side effects will cause in having wines regularly?
November 4, 2010 / 21:30
Marvelous article have got, you'd put considerable time and effort into it We can tell! Your entire web site is very decent too. How long could it require one to construct this fabulous site roughly the place it's at the moment?
November 9, 2010 / 12:41
Aw, this was a really quality post. In theory I'd like to write like this also - taking time and real effort to make a good article... but what can I say... I procrastinate alot and never seem to get anything done... Regards
November 12, 2010 / 19:30
This is a couple of fabulous information, wish i owned spotted this key fact first. I've discovered this particular report, http://healthfitness.dalsafety.com/uncategorized/steps-for-working-with-bleach-in-treating-toe-nail-yeast/ , In relation to that you choose find important so.
November 19, 2010 / 08:32
Dreamin. I love blogging. You all express your feelings the right way, because they are your feeling, focus on your blog it is great.
November 19, 2010 / 15:30
Do you people have a myspace fan page? I looked for one on facebook but couldn't discover one, I would love to become a fan!
November 20, 2010 / 06:40
Hé c'est un grand poteau. Est-ce que je peux employer une partie là-dessus sur mon emplacement ? Je naturellement lierais à votre emplacement ainsi les gens pourraient lire le plein article s'ils voulaient à. Remercie l'une ou l'autre manière.
November 21, 2010 / 21:06
I thought it was going to be some boring old post, but it really compensated for my time. I will post a link to this page on my blog. I am sure my visitors will find that very useful
November 22, 2010 / 16:55
Have you ever considered including more videos to your blog site posts to keep the subscribers more interested? I mean I just read through the entire blog post of yours and it was quite excellent but since I'm more of a visual learner,I found that to be more handy well let me know how it turns out! Regards, Tisha.
November 22, 2010 / 21:23
This is specifically what i was looking for. thanks a ton for the interesting blog post and keep up the good work! Best wishes, Kaycee.
November 23, 2010 / 19:22
Very useful info. Hope to see more posts soon!
November 26, 2010 / 21:00
Thanks for sharing this helpful info!
Site Feed
Recent Posts, Recent Comments & Categories
