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Peter Gzowski was a Canadian broadcast journalist, best known as the host of Morningside on CBC radio (1982-1997). Gzowski was born on July 13, 1934, in Toronto, Ontario. He grew up in Galt, Ontario and was educated at Ridley College in St. Catharines, Ontario and the University of Toronto. Gzowski was appointed Trent University’s eighth Chancellor in 1999, a position he held until his death on January 24, 2002 . Gzowski College, named after Peter Gzowski, opened at Trent University in 2003.
Gzowski edited “The Varsity” as an undergraduate student at the University of Toronto (1956-1957). He went on to work for town newspapers in Timmins, Ontario, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan and Chatham, Ontario. He became managing editor of Maclean's Magazine in 1962.
Gzowski’s radio career started with CBC's "This Country in the Morning" (1971-1974). He later hosted "90 Minutes Live" (1976-1978), a national late-night television program, and was the host for a brief revival of CBC’s “Fighting Words” television series on CHCH in Hamilton (1982-1984). He became the host of “Morningside” in 1982 and remained its host until the show went off air in 1997 .
Gzowski wrote numerous books, including Peter Gzowski's Book about This Country in the Morning (Hurtig Publishers, 1974), Peter Gzowski's Spring Tonic (Hurtig Publishers, 1979), The Game of Our Lives (McClelland and Stewart, 1981) and several volumes of Morningside letters (McClelland and Stewart, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991, and 1994).
Gzowski contributed to adult literacy education through his annual golf tournament fundraiser, the Peter Gzowski Invitational (PGI), which began in 1986. Hosted at multiple locations across Canada each year, the PGI has raised millions of dollars since its inception. In 2002, the Peter Gzowski Foundation for Literacy was funded by an endowment from the federal government and took over responsibility for the PGI.
In 1974, 1983, and 1985, Gzowski won ACTRA (the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists) awards for best host-interviewer on radio. He has also won three National Magazine Awards, one of which was for his 1981 profile on Wayne Gretzky. Gzowski was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in1986 and appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada in 1998. He received honourary degrees from the University of New Brunswick (D.LITT., 1984) and Trent University (LL.D., 1988). Other honours include the Governor General's Performing Arts Award (1995) and the International Peabody Award for Broadcasting (1997).