R.I.P.: CBC Radio Journalist John Furlong Dies At 63

John Furlong, a CBC journalist who covered every facet of Newfoundland and Labrador, has died just weeks after being diagnosed with cancer.

He was 63, according to CBC News.

Furlong hosted his last edition of Radio Noon on March 3, ending a journalism career that ran over four decades.

"He knew what a good story was [and] he was not intimidated by anything or anybody," said Bob Wakeham, a retired CBC producer who knew Furlong so well over the years that he considered him a brother.

"It seems so unfair. It just seems so cruel to me .... It just seems to me that he deserved to live longer than 63 years."

Furlong worked in newspapers and private broadcasting before moving to the CBC, where he produced radio programs such as the St. John's Morning Show through the 1980s. He switched to television in 1990, working as a producer at Here & Now, On Camera and the documentary series Soundings.

Having worked behind the scenes for most of his career, he went on air in 2005 as the host of the Fisheries Broadcast, which he helmed until last year before switching to Radio Noon. He also wrote a number of columns for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador's regional website.