Veteran broadcaster Lister Sinclair died in Toronto on Oct. 16, leaving behind an unparalleled legacy of radio and TV work at CBC. He was 85.

Best known as the host of Ideas on CBC Radio One, and of The Nature of Things in its early years, Sinclair joined the network in 1944. He wrote war propaganda before moving on to acting and writing radio plays, of which he penned some 700. He was admitted to the Order of Canada in 1985.

‘He was a great broadcaster and he was a great mind,’ said colleague and former governor general Adrienne Clarkson in an interview with the CBC.

He is survived by his sons Peter and Andrew.