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MEISEL
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JOHN MEISEL
MEISEL
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JOHN MEISEL

JOHN MEISEL

JOHN MEISEL Obituary

(1923 - 2025) Surrounded by the love of Hanna and her family, John passed away peacefully, on March 30, 2025. Born in Vienna to Czech parents, John travelled extensively with his family before and during the Second World War. Thanks to the Bata Shoe Company, employers of his father, Fryda, the family escaped the Holocaust, living in the Netherlands, Morocco and Haiti before coming to Canada in January 1942. As a young teenager, John attended Ottershaw College in the UK, and later Pickering College in Newmarket, Ontario. He then studied at the University of Toronto, eventually earning his PhD at the London School of Economics. For more than five decades John taught political science at Queen's University, mentoring and inspiring many future politicians, diplomats and journalists. He was a co-founder of the The Canadian Journal of Political Science. His scholarly writing often featured titles reflecting his wicked wit, sense of humour and love of puns. From 1979 to 1983, John served as Chair of the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission, during a challenging period when technology was beginning to outpace regulation. After returning to Queen's, he dedicated much of his time to the study of broadcast regulation and cultural policy. In 1989, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and was promoted to Companion in 1999. John loved classical music and was an enthusiastic concertgoer. He loved physical activity, bicycled, played tennis, cross-country skied and hiked in the Austrian Alps. He was also an avid photographer and old friends still treasure his exquisite photos on his Christmas cards. Predeceased by his artist wife, Muriel (Kelly); his sister, Rose; and niece, Victoria Wilcox. John is survived by Hanna Dodwell, his partner, caretaker and second wife of many years; his nephew, Carl (David) Wilcox; and his great-niece, Simon Wilcox; along with loyal former students, colleagues and friends. We express our sincere thanks to the dedicated staff at St. Lawrence Place Retirement Home, Providence Transitional Care Centre, and Providence Manor. A celebration of life will be held at a later date. Donations, in lieu of flowers, may be made to Providence Care (providencecare.ca) in John's memory. Simpler Times Kingston 613-389-7223 www.simplertimes.com

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Published by The Globe and Mail from Apr. 5 to Apr. 9, 2025.

Memories and Condolences
for JOHN MEISEL

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1 Entry

Craig Jones

April 6, 2025

I never took a class from John, but we became good friends around the Department. After his formal retirement I approached him to do an "exit interview" - to reflect on his life; childhood; maturation into professorhood; what had changed; what had stayed the same; about what he had changed his mind over the decades. That sort of thing.

He declined. Politely but firmly.

A year and a bit later, we met on the street and he had changed his mind - on the condition that he would own the final product entirely and I would never share it with anyone. I agreed.

I called around to a handful of John´s longtime colleagues in the department to ask them "What would you most like to ask John Meisel?" Then I video-recorded several hours over two days of John talking in his Ontario Street condo, transferred the result to DVD and erased the original analogue tape, as per our agreement.

It was a delightful and relaxing conversation we both thoroughly enjoyed. Years later, he told me that once he got over his reluctance, he found it enlightening, insightful, at times profound and inspiring. I suspect - though I never asked him - that it provoked him to write his memoirs, "A Life of Learning and Other Pleasures: John Meisel's Tale."

During his years at St. Lawrence Place, I would visit John and Jock Gunn - departmental comrades - and John was always at his most gracious. Whenever I played music there - with my jazz combos or my adult students - John was always in the audience for the duration, always keen to know how I was doing. He should have been someone´s dad.

The last time I visited he was mostly bedridden - he said he preferred to be "cozy" - but his mind was still quite sharp even though his hearing was failing. In every respect, he was still the mensch he had always been.

A class act, John. We are the better for having known you.

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for JOHN MEISEL

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