Gillian Deacon has led a charmed life of good intentions. The Toronto-born radio and TV personality, now host of CBC Radio’s Here and Now, has bounced from golden opportunity to golden opportunity.
In her days at North Toronto’s Havergal College, it was clear even then that she was one to watch.
She ran track, played badminton, sang in the choir, played the trombone, was a member of the school band and participated in all things theatrical. On top of all that, she got top marks in all her classes.
After high school, she packed her bags and left for McGill, where she would become enchanted by Montreal’s vibrant cultural scene.
“I thought I would be an actor. I had always been on stage,” says Deacon of her career ambitions at the time, though in reality her career went in a different direction.
Deacon graduated from McGill and spent the next years guiding bicycle tours in Europe, teaching children with learning disabilities and singing in the band Bag of Hammers with Kevin Fox. Bag of Hammers didn’t end up making it big, but a love of education compelled her to return to McGill for her master of education.
Deacon’s career in journalism comes down to kismet. One night while performing improv with the McGill Players, she was discovered.
George Balcan, resident morning man on CJAD radio in Montreal, called her in to meet with the station’s producers, who were so charmed by the quick-on-her-feet rookie that they created a show for Deacon called Hot Summer Streets. She says it was a dream job for a twentysomething loose on the streets of Montreal.
Deacon covered the myriad of exciting cultural events that flood the streets of the city each summer and aired three five-minute segments throughout the day.
After she received her master’s degree, the radio host got a call from CBC-TV asking her to host an arts and culture show called City Beat, which she did for four years.
Next, the Discovery Channel brought her on board to host various shows over several years. During this time, she would become a spokesperson for environmentalism.
Deacon was then offered to host her own daytime show on CBC.
When her show ended, she was approached by Penguin publishers and went on to write two books on environmentalism — Green for Life, in 2008, and There’s Lead in Your Lipstick:Toxins in Everyday Bodycare and How to Avoid Them in 2011.
Deacon is also a breast cancer survivor and penned the memoir Naked Imperfection about the illusion of control in our lives. The self-reflective work reconciles her environmental work with her battle with cancer.
Now, you can hear Deacon on CBC’s Here and Now, weekdays 3 to 6 p.m. On getting to where you want to be in life, Deacon says: “Do what you love and find what makes you happy.… Maybe you’ll even stumble into a career that you love in the process.”
