Henderson, Going And Coming

Oh no, what will we poor BLOGGERs do now?

More importantly, to whom will certain people at City Hall run to leak information and to give scoops? To whom will a certain Councillor hide behind for protection when the going gets too tough? To whom will that provincial government insider turn to tell us what happens in car rides in Toronto?

Sure he is still going to write once a week on Saturdays, but now that Gord Henderson has announced his retirement, how can we fill up all of our BLOG space?

I remember when I was younger and lived in Toronto I used to read Pierre Berton in the Star and Scott Young in the Globe. There is no doubt that our Mr. Henderson ranks with them as far as I am concerned.

I have no intention of saying nice things about him because he still will be writing one day a week in the Star on Saturdays. After all, I still have to be able to go after him. But I do want to thank Gord for all of the columns with which he has entertained and informed us and, naturally, infuriated us.

As I can testify writing these BLOGs, it is extremely difficult to write so many columns on so many topics and at the same time to try to keep the attention of your readership. However, he had the additional pressure and responsibility that I certainly do not have, namely ensuring that people read his column to help out the financial position of his Newspaper.

Yes, I am one of the people who looked to his writings three times a week first thing when the newspaper was delivered or when I went online. There is no doubt that many people kept their subscription with the Star because of Gord.

I cannot believe that there was anybody in the City that knew more about what was going on here than the Star’s Columnist. There is no doubt I am sure, that he received phone calls and letters from many citizens giving him all kinds of information about Windsor.

It should be interesting to see how the Star fills his space. We will find out Monday we are told. Apparently, the Star will “unveil a new team of opinion-makers in Gord's A3 space.”

Does that mean that there will not be one main Columnist. That would be a big mistake. Or is this the start of a “beauty contest” to see which writer the Star readers prefer the most. Will it be like a version of American Idol where one writer is dropped off every so often until one is left standing? It would be fun if there were online polls saying who we liked the most, or rather perhaps, who made us the most angry!

I wonder what Gord’s column will be like on Saturdays. I hope that it will be less factual and more analytical.

Quite often, it was not what Gord said in his column but what he did not say that was extremely interesting to me. Were those signs or hints about what was going to take place? Was this his way of telling us that what he wrote wasn’t necessarily the complete picture and that we had to do a bit of digging to understand fully?

I would think that one sign of his ability as a writer was keeping us guessing. If we knew what he was going to say, then we probably would not read him as much. He would become too predictable.

So let me leave you, dear reader, with a conundrum about our Mr. Henderson.

As you will note over the last few months I have affectionately called him the Sheriff, the leader of a posse of whining and naysaying Windsor Star reporters who have written negative stories about the Mayor. I have suggested as well that one needs to look at his columns not just by reading what he says superficially but by looking much more deeply into them. It seemed to me that lately, when he seemed to be praising our Mayor, he was really mocking him and pointing out his weaknesses.

Is Gord really the booster of our Mayor or has he turned on him but because of the delicateness of the border file has chosen not to go after him directly? In passing, has Gord’s column and the story written by Don McArthur given away why he supported Eddie so strongly in the past and is so anti-Bridge Company? It did to me.

Let me again suggest that you have to read more closely what Gord has written in his last column and also what has been written about him.

Take a look at both the Henderson column and the McArthur story and what do you see missing?

I saw political names including those of Shaughnessy Cohen, Bert Weeks, Roy Battagello, Ed Lumley, Bill Wrye, Dave Cooke, Eugene Whelan, Herb Gray, Alan Halberstadt, Sandra Pupatello and Dwight Duncan: past, present and possibly a future politician who may take a run at being Mayor. Ken Lewenza Sr. was very prominent as well.

Whose name was missing? Who did not say or perhaps was not asked to say anything about our Columnist? Why were the Provincial Cabinet Ministers so visible but no one on the municipal level other than Alan Halberstadt? Sure, he is Gord’s good friend but also, we know whom he antagonizes as well.

There was also lots of talk obviously about the past. Uncharacteristically, very little was said about Windsor’s future. No Greenlink, no fiscal responsibility, no canal vision, no downtown rejuventation, no economc diversification. There was no bright new future brought to us by City Hall even hinted at.

What does this all mean? Am I right or is it called wishful thinking on my part? I guess I’ll have to read Gordon’s column every Saturday to try and find out.