Longtime TV personality steps away from the spotlight at age 80

A legendary journalist and host is stepping down from his role after five decades of broadcast in BC.

Mike McCardell, host of The Last Word with CTV News Vancouver, has announced that he is retiring.

In a CTV News article about McCardell’s impending retirement, the storyteller said, “I’m 80 years old. I’m tired.”

According to Bell Media, the New York City-born-and-raised reporter originally came to the West Coast in the 1970s and worked as a crime reporter for the Vancouver Sun.

McCardell then joined to Global BC (BCTV) where he spent nearly 40 years telling uplifting stories from the community before moving to CTV.

Mike McCardell/CTV News Vancouver

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He is also the author of several bestselling essay collections, including Here’s Mike, Back Alley Reporter and None of This Was Planned. McCardell also wrote the local history book Haunting Vancouver and the memoir Cardboard Ocean.

Colleagues from across the industry and longtime fans paid tribute on social media to McCardell and his career.

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X/Screenshot

X/Screenshot

McCardell’s final The Last Word segment will air on Friday, August 30.