Knowlton Nash Journalist and Senior Anchor of CBC The National

“Trust in News” — Remembering Knowlton Nash

On a walk through Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto, I came across the grave of a man whose voice once brought clarity and calm to millions of Canadians: Knowlton Nash.

Nash’s journalism journey began humbly—selling newspapers on the streets of Toronto in the 1940s. By his late twenties, he had carved out a career as a freelance foreign correspondent, chasing stories far from home. In the 1960s, the CBC took notice, and Nash became their Washington correspondent during the Kennedy and Johnson years—what a time to be reporting from D.C.

In 1978, Knowlton Nash became the face of national news as chief anchor of The National. For a full decade, he delivered the day’s headlines with trust, poise, and integrity. In 1988, he passed the anchor’s chair to a rising journalist named Peter Mansbridge.

His gravestone says simply: “Trust in news.”
And beside him lies his wife, Lorraine Thomson, a trailblazer in her own right in Canadian broadcasting. Her epitaph? “Get on with it.”

Knowlton Nash died in Toronto on May 24, 2014. He was 86.

1927-2014