Review: The Kind of Life It's Been by Lloyd Robertson

Genre: Memoir
Publisher: HarperCollins 
Released: Oct. 3, 2012
345 pages

About the Book:

For sixty years, Lloyd Robertson appeared on Canadian television screens as a journalist and an anchor, bringing us the major events of his day. The longest-serving TV news anchor in Canadian history, first on CBC and then on CTV, Robertson remains one of the most accomplished journalists of our time. His career is truly the story of Canada over the past half century, as he told us about key events like the moon landing, JFK’ s assassination, Trudeaumania, Terry Fox’ s run, the Montreal Massacre, 9/11 and the royal weddings.

In The Kind of Life It’ s Been, Robertson shares the inside story and the insights he has gained over his long career, from breaking into the business in his hometown of Stratford, Ontario, to joining the CBC, to his highly public departure for CTV to his career as senior editor of CTV News. Filled with fascinating and often hilarious anecdotes about Robertson’ s career, this book captures the essential tales of our time and is a must for any Canadian interested in the inner workings of a frenetic newsroom. 

My Rating & Thoughts:    ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I wanted to read this book because I remember regularly watching the 11 o’clock news with my dad. Dad would always choose to watch Lloyd over any other broadcaster. I found the book very detailed regarding his early days of radio and then the transition to television. At times it felt like he was speaking over my head by using words I didn’t know and had to stop and look them up. His vocabulary is much broader than mine. I also didn’t understand some of the anecdotes he used, but I think this is due to the difference in our generations. However as I got to the time periods and events I was familiar with I became much more invested and interested in learning his perspective. At this point I did not want to put it down. I would have enjoyed getting more of a glimpse into his personal life outside of the job. However due to his work schedule of working mid-afternoon to midnight five days a week he spent a lot of time away from the family. The fact that he has been married to his high-school sweetheart for over 50 years is an accomplishment when this is not true for some many others in this field.

I really appreciated that he shared about some of the struggles he went through over the years in the work environment, and he did this without bashing others. This sharing touched me in ways I can’t really explain but I so appreciated reading these parts. I feel like God brought this book to me at just the right time. 

(I own my copy of this book; opinions expressed 

in this review are my honest opinion and completely my own.)