Mexican car accident kills a couple of Canadian broadcasters

They met at CHOM in 1975 and got married a few years later. They died together in a head-on collision with a vehicle in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, last Monday.

On Monday night, Les Sole and Terri Michael, who were retiring in Cabo, Mexico, went out for dinner. Leslie's mother, Violet, who is visiting Vancouver, has decided to stay.

She had to open the door when she was not expecting anyone. And once that door opened, all that bad energy, all the bad news came like a flood.

There had been a terrible accident between a car and a van. This accident cost the lives of well-known Canadian broadcasters, Les Sole, and his wife, Terri Michael. The driver of the van also died on the scene.

Once this tragedy has been absorbed, it will be a story of talent and success, but also a story rarely celebrated in our sector.

A story of love.

At the height of the radio, Les and Terri were a brilliant couple in the industry. Their two stars were on the rise in the '70s and' 80s. He was blond, charismatic and cute; she was black-haired, clbady and glamorous with a velvety voice. They were both on their way and they knew it.

The was a phenomenon while his star was rising first on the radio and then on television. He was the morning man at the Windsor radio station after high school and, before you knew it, he was running CHOM FM in Montreal. At CHOM FM (where these two people met), it is thanks to its influence that CHOM has become the country's first bilingual station. He created Metro1430 (the largest station ever created) in Toronto and was proud of what they did, regardless of the failure of their launch. He went to CFMT (the multicultural station of Telemedia) and headed the renowned OMNI. He merged OMNI and CITY across the country and became the CEO of Rogers Television. His pbadions were people and culture. He has been called a creative visionary. His tenure at Rogers lasted 25 years. They have also visited China 6 or 7 times, creating new businesses for Canadians.

At a time when women in the media were sometimes openly discriminated against, while it was still often badumed that the husband was to be / was the breadwinner, Terri and Les wrote their own rules.

While Harvested the fruits of his talent and concentration, Terri did so too. She too was on the radio; In fact, she was the first woman to host a morning solo show in Canada at CHOM in Montreal. She became the first already A female presenter on the air at CJBK in London. In Toronto, she worked at Q107, MIX, CHFI and EZRock, where she was again the first woman in Toronto to host the morning show. She also had a career in television and film, launched a jewelry line with her sister Lori Grant (a longtime presenter of CHFI), did the voiceover and maybe you remember the long Canadian Living on radio and television? Terri worked and worked hard. She was talented with a wide range of abilities and natural entrepreneur. It is not surprising that since her retirement with Les in Mexico a few years ago, she hosted a weekly radio show there. Total recall on CaboMil 96.3.

Friends and family will remember two unique souls who have formed a family and a marriage that has stood the test of time and rock and roll. These heady days have not always been favorable to romantic relationships. As an industry, we will remember two of our own. They have developed according to their talent, their intelligence and their verve. Pbadion, dedication and sense of humor have completed the whole thing. We will respect two careers well done and well deserved and we will comfort the loss of two respected and respected broadcasters.

Les and Terri celebrated their 39^th wedding anniversary in october. They leave behind an adult son, John.

Condolences to the friends and family of the couple. The details of the final arrangements were not yet defined at the time of publication.

Industry reactions:

Rick Brace, President of Rogers Media – Leslie was a visionary who pbadionately loved Canadian television and left an indelible mark on this industry and Rogers. During his 25 years at Rogers, Leslie was a creative leader who never hesitated to make bold decisions and was the architect of pioneering stations such as OMNI Television. Rogers Media extends its deepest condolences to the entire Sole family following the pbading of Leslie and his wife Terri. We partner with friends and colleagues to remember this respected media leader, whom we were proud to call ours.

Larry Fedoruk. CKTB – A hundred years ago, in Winnipeg, I wrote a hundred letters to people in Toronto to find out if anyone was interested in what I had to say. Two people answered me with encouraging notes. Roger Ashby and Leslie Sole (I still have the letters). Years later, I worked briefly with Leslie at Rogers and learned a lot. I've also worked with Teri Michael at 99.9. I am more than stupefied by this news. I also have good memories of two remarkable people with whom I had the chance to cross paths.

Julie Adam – President of Rogers Radio – When we relaunched KISS, I proposed hiring a morning show that had never worked together. One person in particular was not even on the air on a full-time basis and was working for another television network. At the time, Leslie was the head of television for Rogers. When I told him about this idea, he sent me an e-mail containing a two-word answer saying "inspired choice". In an ocean of opinions "Are you sure?", His two words have brought me up. It was Leslie. (The show was Roz and Mocha)

Tony Viner – My first memory of Leslie is to have met him in Montreal. He was the Executive Director of CHOM FM, the largest Canadian counterculture radio station. As part of his compensation, he was allowed to rent a Mercedes, an icon of the establishment. I'm sure Leslie was 22 years old and was extremely proud of his new car, but he was afraid to tell anyone! Leslie's most obvious strength was her ability to innovate and create. The neurons of Leslie's brain followed paths where we no way. All the executives who worked with Leslie were amazed by her creativity. But he was also a loyal, warm and faithful friend. He will be missed by everyone, but especially John, his son whom he adored. Those of us who have been lucky to have worked with him.

Chuck McCoy "It's really only since their retirement in Mexico that my wife and I have become good friends with Les and Terri. Our places there are not too far away and we had a vacation together last year. We exchanged messages about three weeks ago. Since my heart attack, he took the initiative of "chuck" with me and we stayed in touch. Great people. I am completely stunned. Incredible loss.