It’s 1969 and the socialites of Forest Hill Collegiate Institute are fuming. The prom has been cancelled and the blame all laid on Ira Basen and an article he wrote for the new school paper, From the Hart.
The prom is a waste, he argued, it only appeals to a fraction of the students at the school he thought, and so he went to From the Hart to make his case. He was successful. The prom was axed and the money used to fund the prom was funnelled into an arts festival.
“I thought that was a much better idea,” Basen says. “That was an interesting experience to go through because people were quite pissed off at me.”
Although today Basen likes sports, back then he was a lousy athlete. He didn’t play for any teams in high school but held the downs markers for the Forest Hill football team. Academically, he struggled as well. Basen failed math and also did poorly in science. He did take a shine to history, however. This was in part due to Mr. Lymburner, his eccentric history teacher who inspired him to study history in university.
“He was kind of an odd guy. He used to wrap the cord from the venetian blinds around his neck while he was talking because he became so absorbed in what he was talking about,” Basen says.
Lymburner was a contrast to Basen. Lymburner was heavily invested in coaching the hockey team and was also involved in the short-lived football team the Toronto Rifles. He also had a cool factor that was noticed by many students in the school.
Although Lymburner was able to make use of his degree in history, Basen was not. With his graduate’s degree in history virtually useless because of low job prospects, Basen acted on an idea to work on a series of documentaries on country music as a researcher for the CBC.
“I wound up doing it, but it turned out that they didn’t have researchers in radio, he says. “They said if you want to do this you have to be on the air, which was the last thing I thought I was capable of.”
But he was able to cope with being on the air, and in addition to writing on the side and teaching, Basen has stayed with the CBC. During his time at the network he created a handful of shows, including The Inside Track and This Morning, and won awards in the process. Basen still works on projects for the CBC but gave up his staff position to focus on other interests. “It’s always a challenge to find your place in life. You know, I got very lucky,” Basen says.
