It’s the end of an era at CJAD 800, with host Tommy Schnurmacher signing off for the final time today after over 40 years in the business.
"I'd been contemplating it for a long, long time and put it off, put if off," said Schnurmacher after making the surprise announcement of his retirement last month.
That doesn’t mean he won’t be missed, plenty of well-wishers—co-workers both new and old, friends, and a few household names—have offered their congratulations.
They are among the many surprises as Schnurmacher ends his run at CJAD 800 with a Martinis and Fedoras Bonvoyage party, live on the air today from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m.
“I’ll be there,” Schnurmacher mused last month, “although I don’t know much about what they’ve got planned.”
Schnurmacher has been a fixture on Montreal airwaves for decade—and though a man with a penchant for fedoras, he has a worn many different hats during his radio career.
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"A talk show host, an author, a gossip columnist, a social columnist, a film critic, I even played James Levine in an absolutely horrible movie called 2001: A Space Travesty," he recalled.
He began doing entertainment reports for CHOM-FM in the 1970s, moving on to CJFM, CKGM and the now-defunct CIQC.
He transitioned to politics as Quebec became mired in the 1995 referendum, moving to CJAD 800 in 1996. He started in the midday time slot before his show was moved to 9 a.m. to noon, where it remained for nearly 20 years.
Schnurmacher plans to travel and finish a novel he has been working on, which he updated listeners a few weeks ago is about half finished.
“You never know, you might see me dancing on Instagram at various locations and monuments around the world,” he said. “There's no telling what I'll do.”
He’s also suggested it may be too hard to stay away. “I may be saying goodbye to daily radio deadlines but I have a sneaking suspicion that I will not be able to keep myself from holding court from time to time whether that’s on-air, off-air or on Twitter,” he admitted.
Tommy Schnurmacher's Martinis and Fedoras Bon Voyage party airs 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.