Subject: THE PAUL REID CHRISTMAS SHOW
Station: CJAD Montreal
Date: December 7, 2007
Time: 2:29:28 (unscoped)

There's Christmas, then there's a Paul Reid Christmas

Reid's annual Christmas show was tremendously popular during his years at CJAD, and continues to be the station's most requested program years after his passing in 1983.

A native of Cobourg, Ontario, one of 16 children, Reid got his radio start in 1947 at CHEX Peterborough. In 1954 he moved to CHML Hamilton where he hosted several shows including Nightcap, where he began his long-standing practice of reading poetry on the air. Reid moved to Montreal's CJAD in 1964, hosting Paul Reid's Wonderful World of Music. It was a five-hour show that included interviews with folks from all walks of life, and three hours of music programmed by Reid himself. It was during his time at CJAD that he started began the Paul Reid Christmas Show and recorded his first album of poetry, A Letter To My Love, in 1968. Reid gave the show away to anyone who wanted it - it even aired on Armed Forces Radio Vietnam.

Reid returned to CHML in 1977, then bounced back to Montreal at CFQR three years later. In failing health, it was arranged for him to broadcast his show from his bedroom until his death in January 1983. His posthumous induction into the Canadian Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame came in November 2007, a month before this show aired.

Enjoy the Paul Reid Christmas Show on CJAD (UNSCOPED) here.

(The Sam Ward Collection)