I remember lying in bed as a child, listening to the radio and hearing the moving song, “Thanks for the Memories,” sung by the late comedian Bob Hope. Today, I’m feeling much deeper nostalgia for the remarkable 40 years of my lifetime career working for the Toronto Star. Now, I’m retiring.
It’s been fulsome and fantastic years of engaging with Toronto Star readers. It became a mutual relationship when I wrote my advice column for the last 23 of those years. Oddly enough, it was because the famous American-based advice columnist, Ann Landers, had died.
I’d read every column of hers in the Star since I was an early teen, fascinated by her readers’ personal stories and Landers’ insights. After she passed on, I called the Star’s then-publisher, the late John Honderich, and asked him, “What about a made-in-Canada relationship adviser?” He said “Lunch!” And the deal was done. I called it, simply, “Ellie.
” It was syndicated across Canada. Honderich immediately launched a $1 million campaign to promote my new column. Billboards blasted my face on the sides and back of every bus in Toronto, just like the Carrie Bradshaw ads on “Sex in the City.
” As the Star’s relationship advice columnist, I answered thousands of letters and emails over the years. I’m grateful for the loyalty and trust of every reader who sought my advice, even those who disagreed with me. I learned all sides of people’s personal situations.
So, how did I land in the field of pr.
