Guelph lost an advocate, champion and political scrutinizer on Tuesday with the death of longtime local journalist Chris Clark.
According to people close to him, Clark died peacefully in his sleep at home.
“Chris was a giant in Guelph in terms of being a champion for the city – as a reporter, as an editor and as a citizen,” said longtime friend P. Brian Skerrett. “He always thought that we could do better and he always loved what we did well.”
After nearly 30 years with the Guelph Tribune, Clark retired as editor in 2015. Through the years he attended countless community events and knew people from all walks of life, having covered a wide variety of topics – always with firm local focus.
“Chris played a huge part in the Tribune’s success over the years. He knew what real ‘community journalism’ was and stood by his principles,” said Peter Winkler, who served as the Tribune’s publisher until his own retirement and had countless interactions with Clark, said via email. “He was also a mentor to many young journalists over the years.”
Clark’s dedication to all things Guelph was a large part of his approach to news coverage and he was known to lament changes in the journalism landscape, including the closing of the Guelph Mercury in 2016.
He saw the existence of two newspapers in the city as healthy competition that worked to serve the residents of Guelph.
“Chris is amazing. He was a huge influence in my career and many other young journalists,” said Jon Wells, whom Clark hired at the Tribune in 1992 and now writes for the Hamilton Spectator. “He was a kind, funny and caring man ... Chris loved (his longtime partner) Kate and his kids, and his ‘burg’ as he would refer to Guelph.”
GuelphToday editor Tony Saxon called Clark a caring and thoughtful friend and mentor.
"Chris cared about community journalism and Guelph as much as anyone could. To him the two were inherently connected."
Clark was the inaugural recipient of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario’s Media Award, recognizing writers who have promoted a greater understanding of heritage issues, in 2012.
“He had a passion for heritage but he also had a passion for the politics of the city,” said Skerrett. “He was able to edit stories about Guelph council and make them readable, make them interesting and draw people into the stories.”
Skerrett met Clark during his early days with the Tribune, when Clark was a reporter and Skerrett was manager at The Bookshelf. Both the store and newspaper office were in the downtown core at the time.
Recalling a recent conversation with Clark about the early days of fundraising to build the River Run Centre, Skerrett said Clark had just learned or been reminded he’d made the first monetary contribution to the campaign – a loonie.
“On the one hand it was just like Chris to show his support for what he saw as a great civic project,” Skerrett wrote in a follow-up email to GuelphToday. “On the other hand, it was also like him not to be aware of how significant his actions were… significant enough that someone noted it was noted and kept it.”
In 2016, Clark launched the @GuelphMatters Twitter account, which he used to promote local heritage matters, among other subjects.
Clark leaves behind his partner of 25 years, Kate Revington, as well as daughters Marianne and Madeline and son Jeremy, along with Revington’s daughters Caroline, Alison and Lilah.
