By Robert Pilgrim
It’s been a long day,” Max Keeping confides as he sits down in his office at CJOH-TV. “I was out selling newspapers at six o’clock this morning for the Ottawa Citizen’s literacy campaign.”
But that was only the beginning. The rest of his day is chocked-full of speeches, guest appearances and fundraising events.
This is common fair for the well-known journalist and community activist. Outside his duties as vice-president of news and head anchor at CJOH, Keeping’s list of activities includes everything from CHEO spokesperson to honourary chair of the Children’s Wish Foundation.
Later this month, Keeping will collect his latest accolade for public involvement, an Award at the second annual Peace Prayer Day hosted by the Friends of Peace, a non-profit group dedicated to promoting social activism in Ottawa.
“Max was chosen as a recipient of the Peace Award in recognition for his tireless efforts through his foundation to bring support to many people in the city community,” Ian Prattis, a spokesperson for Friends of Peace explains.
The Max Keeping Foundation was created in 1995 to respond to children and their families who were not being helped by other charities in Ottawa.
“Kids health, making kids a part of the community, giving kids a voice in the community, advocating on behalf of kids, this is where I’ve spent most of my energy in the last two decades.”
Born in Grand Bank, Newfoundland, Keeping, 62, became a sports writer for The Evening Telegram, the largest daily newspaper in Newfoundland and Labrador, at age 14. From there, he moved into radio and in 1965, moved to Ottawa to pursue journalism at the CFRA, CTV National News, and finally at the network which the public has accustomed, CJOH. For the past 32 years, he has become a local fixture and a familiar face to Ottawa residents.
Keeping explains that for the first seven years he was in Ottawa, he was the “Newfie Cowboy,” playing as hard as he worked. But after coming to CJOH as a news director, Keeping decided to see how he could handle an entire newsroom.
“It was time for me to see whether I had any managerial capabilities whatsoever,” he recalls. “And after only a month, the owner [of CJOH] asked me when I was going to start reading on air.”
It seems Keeping is almost as well known in Ottawa for his participation in community events as he is for his work as a broadcaster. He says he feels community involvement is part of his responsibility as a broadcaster.
“I first started going to the rural areas outside of Ottawa and getting to know the Ottawa Valley and letting them know who I was. Then I started to do more in [Ottawa] neighbourhoods.”
Once Keeping revealed his penchant for people, everyone and his dog began requesting his endorsement. From visiting seniors’ homes to singing in a local band called the Ottawa Valley Melodeers.
“I think what I’ve been able to do is use television to the benefit of the community to reach [peoples’] emotions,” Keeping explains. “We look for things to celebrate in the community.”
Keeping has a particular interest in helping and educating the young people of Ottawa. He is actively involved in initiatives promoting youth participation in the community.
“I enjoy the company of young people, I enjoy hearing new ideas,” he says. “I spend a lot of time encouraging young people to get involved and tell us what they think and a lot of time encouraging grown-ups to stop and listen.”
But Keeping’s interest in helping children does not end with education and discussion. His office walls are adorned with a myriad of photos depicting Keeping with the sick and needy children he has been devoted to for most of his career at CJOH.
Twenty years ago, Keeping was a key figure in Ottawa efforts in establishing its own children’s healthcare facility through a series of telethons. Looking back, he says that his work with CHEO and with sick children is the most rewarding.
“I believe the hospital to be so important and the staff magnificent,” Keeping lauds. “[CHEO] was started by the community. They raised $6 million and went to the government and said ‘we want a hospital, we’re tired of sending our kids to Toronto.’ And they got one.”
Fred Bartlett, president of the CHEO Foundation, says Keeping’s dedication has been important to the success of his organization.
“Max is a great ambassador for the hospital,” Bartlett says. “He can always be counted on to help promote the events we have and to be involved.”
In December 2002, CHEO unveiled the Max Keeping Wing, which accommodates rehabilitation and information services ,as well as doctors’ and management offices.
“We named a wing of the hospital after him to [show our appreciation],” Bartlett explains.
“The kids have been the greatest influence in my life,” Keeping declares as he points to a large painting of himself and Donnie, a terminally ill teenage boy, hanging next to his office window. Some years ago, Keeping gave Donnie the experience of a lifetime when he brought him to the North Pole on the Concorde supersonic jet.
“By the time we got back from the North Pole he had won over everybody on the plane, and for the next nineteen months before he died, Donnie showed all of us what living is all about.”
Keeping says Donnie was the first of many sick young people at CHEO who inspired him to continue promoting the hospital and inspired him in his own battles.
Last May, Keeping was diagnosed with prostate cancer. While the cancer has been contained, over the next few months, Keeping will undergo surgery, hyperbaric chamber and hormone treatments before he can be sure the cancer is gone.
“I feel incredibly fortunate that it’s a cancer that was caught early and can be cured.”
Going public with his disease was a conscious decision on Keeping’s part and while he claims he never wanted to be the ‘poster-boy’ for prostate cancer, he says he has been inundated with prayers, cards and best wishes from his viewers and has accepted a number of invitations to talk about it.
Raising money for sick children has given Keeping a positive attitude toward his illness.
“How could I feel sorry for me?” he asks rhetorically. “I’ve met too many kids with greater challenges everyday.”
Keeping is adamant that he has a lot left to accomplish and retirement is still a long way away.
“People say I’m as old as the Parliament Buildings,” Keeping jokes. “But I don’t let it get me feeling old because I feel very young. I hope I’ll know when it’s time to [retire], even with cancer I’ve got more energy than most people.”
Keeping’s schedule continues to be hectic.
Speeches to the business community on behalf of charity, appearances at elementary schools and talks to public service workers about donating to their workplace campaigns are all in his datebook. But he takes it all in stride.
“Tomorrow, today, what am I doing? I’m telling people how money donated in the community goes to work,” Keeping concludes with a knowing smile.