Oliver's Twist

Finished December 11
Oliver's Twist: the life and times of an unapologetic newshound by Craig Oliver
As the chief political reporter for CTV news, Craig Oliver is well known to many Canadians. This memoir covers his life thus far, from his childhood running wild in Prince Rupert through his early reporting days with CBC to his present role.
He chronicles his difficult childhood, talking about both parents who were alcoholics. It was in Prince Rupert that he first started his journalistic career, working for the small CBC radio station there. He moved next to the Prairies and on to Toronto and Ottawa. We see how he moved from the CBC to CTV when it was first starting up and the role he played in its early days.
He talks about his stint in Washington, how he found a way to gain information from the political players there and his travels covering U.S. roles in other countries.
Throughout his career, we see the development of relationships between other news people and between Oliver and the political players of the times. He talks about the different styles of the various politicians and his relationship with them.
In addition, Oliver also includes his passion for canoeing northern rivers and his experiences as he made longterm friendships with the men he shared this passion with. This addition really brought out the personal in the story and he includes a trip he made with his son. He also talks about his love for horse riding as a youth and how he rediscovered this joy later in life. Another personal chapter talks about his loss of vision and how he came to terms with the dependency on others he was forced to learn.
A very interesting memoir covering many decades of politics in our country and opening the doors to a very interesting life.