Have I told you the one about Ron Wood?

Known as 'Woody,' Ron Wood, a former Hill reporter in the 1960s who became a top adviser to then-Reform Party leader Preston Manning, died on Jan. 17 in Calgary. His friend Jim Armour called Wood a ‘genuine character.’

Ron Wood was wise, a little rumpled and time-worn. There always seemed to be a cigarette in his hand with a couple more smoldering in the ashtray, when you could still do that sort of thing. And while I never had the nerve to check, I’m pretty sure there was also a bottle of rye in his desk drawer, writes Jim Armour. Photograph courtesy of Facebook/Wood family

Opinion

BY JIM ARMOUR

January 29, 2024

OTTAWA—If you were to call Central Casting and ask them for an old-time reporter, they would send you Ron Wood. Actually, they’d probably send you Ed Asner—but "Woody" would be a close second, and a heckuva lot easier on the budget.

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