Obit: Windsor Star’s Shaw had opinions — and knowledge to back them up

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Edward ‘Ted’ Shaw, Dec. 7, 1951 — Dec. 25, 2024 

Sometimes they were afraid of it, but everyone wanted to read Ted Shaw’s opinion.

For 38 years, Shaw was the Windsor Star’s outspoken and influential entertainment writer.

He possessed an “encyclopedic knowledge” of music, an album collection numbering in the thousands, and strong opinions. A review from Ted Shaw could both elate and devastate.

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Shaw, who retired from the Windsor Star in 2015, died Christmas Day. He was 73.

“If he came to review something, it was like the old-fashioned days when they were all sitting around waiting for the newspaper to come out and wondering, ‘Oh god, what’s it going to be?’” said retired Star editorial page editor John Coleman, who was Shaw’s friend for 50 years. “’Is it going to be good? Is it going to be bad?’”

Out of the spotlight, Shaw was the loving father of daughters Caitlin and Gillian. The love of his life was wife Carlinda. They met at the Windsor Press Club, the legendary former watering hole for local journalists.

Those who knew and loved Shaw also remember him as a world traveler, a long-suffering Toronto Maple Leafs fan, and an all-around funny guy.

“I remember Ted’s sense of humour more than anything else,” said former London Free Press journalist Gary May, one of Shaw’s best friends for five decades. “He could find humour in any kind of situation. If I was down, he was the kind of person who could lift me up. He had a great and infectious sense of humour.”

Shaw was born in Montreal and raised in Toronto. His first newspaper jobs were in Chatham and Wallaceburg.

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Shaw’s early years at the Star in the late 1970s included covering courts and crime, county councils, “and an occasional Rotary luncheon,” he wrote in 2015.

But he will be most remembered for his decades-long coverage of the arts and entertainment scene.

Shaw interviewed major stars and reviewed countless concerts. Often critically, always with intelligence.

“He loved the arts of all descriptions,” said May. “He was probably the most knowledgeable person that I know in terms of music. His tastes were very eclectic. Everything from punk rock all the way to classical. He loved it all. He saw something that was worthwhile in every genre of music that he came across.”

It showed in his work.

Shaw wrote extensively about the Windsor Symphony Orchestra but also interviewed Bruce Dickinson, lead singer of Iron Maiden.

While he often had access to the rich and famous, Shaw never let it overshadow the work of local and under-appreciated artists.

He gave equal ink to the local KordaZone Theatre, Theatre Alive, and Windsor Jewish Film Festival as he did to Bruce Springsteen, Bob Seger, and Paul McCartney.

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His reviews might have been unflinching. But never unfair.

“People respected him,” said Coleman. “He wasn’t just somebody who did bad reviews and wasn’t accountable for them. He made sure that what he said, people might not like it, but they at least understood what he was talking about.”

Shaw also wasn’t afraid to hold his own talents up for scrutiny.

When the Press Club hosted a doo-wop contest, Coleman, Shaw and a couple others formed a group called Little Teddy and the Blenders. Shaw was the lead singer.

“We ended up winning,” said Coleman. “Ted loved that. He loved to perform. He loved to be on a stage.”

He also loved adventure. Shaw and his friends travelled the world together.

“He was a good travelling buddy,” said May, whose trips with Shaw included Cancun and the British Isles. “He was very curious. He loved to learn new things. We had great conversations in those days about things we encountered.”

Other trips were not memorable for the conversation so much as the near-death experiences.

During a fly-in trip with Coleman to a remote lake in the James Bay watershed, Shaw headed out by himself in an aluminum boat to do some fishing.

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A few drinks and four hours later, the group noticed Shaw had not returned. A search party was formed.

They eventually found Shaw stranded on the shore of a barren island near his submerged boat. The wind and waves had proved too much for him. When the group rescued him, Shaw’s main concern was what they were planning for dinner.

He wrote about the near-catastrophe after his safe return to civilization, stating the rest of the trip went more smoothly, “but I let the others run the boat.”

“We had a lot of fun together,” said Coleman. “He was a great friend.”

Memorial visitations were scheduled for Sunday and Monday (Dec. 30, 10 a.m. until memorial service at 12 noon) at Windsor Chapel Funeral Home’s Banwell Chapel, 11677 Tecumseh Rd. E., with Tuesday (11 a.m.) interment at St. John Baptist Cemetery in Amherstburg.

Online condolences or memories can be shared at www.windsorchapel.com. Donations can be made to Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare, the Windsor Symphony Orchestra or “a local arts group of your choice.”

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