Douglas Stone LEITERMAN

LEITERMAN, Douglas Stone

Passed on peacefully at his winter home in Vero Beach, Florida on December 19, 2012. He was born in South Porcupine, Ontario in 1927. In 1945, not yet 18, he joined the Merchant Marines and sailed submarine-infested waters as Second Mate aboard the Alberto Lite. He loved the sea, but poor working conditions on a ship led him to co-author a mutiny, which shortened his sailing career when word spread on shore, as no captain would hire him. So Doug returned to Vancouver and resumed his education, working nights as a photojournalist, while he and his first wife Mary Cassie built a home in Whytecliffe, BC, and started a family. He studied Economics at UBC and at Harvard where he was a Neiman Fellow, and followed this with service as Parliamentary Correspondent for the Southam News Service in Ottawa. Doug's love of politics and understanding of the power of television led him to CBC Public Affairs TV, and his incisive and often hard-hitting interviewing style infused the series which capped, and ended, his career with the CBC: 'This Hour Has 7 Days' which was coproduced with Patrick Watson. In the years that followed, Doug ran a production company with Philip Hobel that produced and distributed films worldwide. When financing became problematic, he built a completion bond company that had branches in Los Angeles, Sydney, Tel Aviv, and London by the time of his retirement in 1998.
Doug is survived by his partner of 50 years, Beryl Fox, and by his beloved daughters Lachlan, Catherine, Julia and Barbara, and by his sister Phyllis King.
Doug was a natural mentor, and his faith in the abilities and the goodness in every person often helped to transform their lives. He refused to be restricted by small mindedness in any area, including gender roles. He consistently supported and promoted women in the workplace and he raised his daughters to stand strong for what they believed in.
In his later years, Doug's life-long faith in Christian Science deepened and he strived to live by Mary Baker Eddy's words: 'What we most need is the prayer of fervent desire for growth in grace, expressed in patience, meekness, love and good deeds.'
There will be no funeral. Instead a celebration of his life will take place in May. Please contact dougmemorial@gmail.com for information.
Donations, if desired, may be made in Doug's memory to THE DAVID SUZUKI FOUNDATION for the environment (www.davidsuzuki.org/donate/donate-in-memory) or to THE MALALA FUND for the education of girls (www.vitalvoices.org/global-initiatives/support-malala-fund).