A message about The Vinyl Café

So when I saw the note ealier this week that my friend Jess Norman wanted me to call her asap, I had a feeling  it wouldn’t be great news.  Jess is the incredibly talented producer of CBC’s The Vinyl Café with Stuart McLean, which has aired  on NCPR on Sunday afternoons for many years. Jess and I have exchanged emails and calls for a long time, and hugs whenever we can–at public radio conferences, in the lobby of the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, in Ogdensburg and Potsdam when she brought the show to North Country audiences a few years back.  Jess was calling to tell me that Stuart has decided to suspend the show indefinitely while he continues treatment for a serious health issue. So the bad news is that The Vinyl Café will be leaving the NCPR airwaves in a few weeks. The good news is that with treatment and rest and time, Stuart will be well again. And we’ll all have more Dave and Morley stories to enjoy, more adventures with Christmas turkeys and those neighborhood holiday parties.

Stuart, from all of us in the NCPR family, thank you for your wonderful stories and for The Vinyl Café. We’re sending you best wishes for a full recovery and much love.

Read Stuart’s note to listeners:

 As many of you know, I was diagnosed with melanoma a year ago. At the time we figured the treatment would be swift. What can I say … things don’t always go exactly as planned.

 I began my first round of immunotherapy treatment last winter. It was partially, but not completely, successful. So the plan is for me to begin another round of immunotherapy treatment in January.

I have been writing Dave and Morley stories over the past few months, but not with any regularity. I’ve been concentrating on my treatment and my health.

I don’t think airing repeats is fair to those of you who listen every week and have been so loyal over these past two decades. Nor is it fair to the writers and producers who are busy creating new work. There are lots of people creating great work, and it deserves to be heard and enjoyed.

So, for the time being, I’m going to step aside and make room for others to share their work on the radio. Starting in January 2017, we won’t be airing The Vinyl Cafe on CBC Radio, Sirius XM 169 or podcast. Public Radio stations in the USA will be airing episodes of Vinyl Cafe Stories until the end of February 2017.

I wanted to tell you that, but I don’t want you to worry about me. A year ago I told you that I expected this to be just a bump in the road, not the end of the road. I still believe that to be true. I hope we will meet up again—on the radio or in theatres. We’ll make sure to tell you before that happens. The best way to keep in touch is through our newsletter. If you aren’t already signed up for the newsletter, you can do that here.

In the meantime, look after yourselves and each other. And know that this isn’t goodbye. It’s just … so long for now.

– Stuart McLean

Tags: canada, programs, stuart mclean, the vinyl cafe