Larry Hudson, former CBC reporter, dead at 89
Larry Hudson, who combed every part of central Newfoundland for stories during his long career as a CBC reporter, died Tuesday morning.
Hudson, born in England and growing up in Australia, had a long and colourful career. He died in St. Alban's Tuesday morning, where he retired in 1992, after a lengthy illness.
Hudson joined the Australian forces when he was 16, lying about his age because recruits needed to be 18 to join. He served on a British aircraft carrier during the Second World War.
Hudson came to Newfoundland in 1968.
He joined the CBC in 1971 and worked in both television and radio, filing hundred of stories. He loved rural Newfoundland for its fantastic scenery and for the people, forging many lasting friendships.
Arrow Air disaster
Hudson's best known story was the 1985 Arrow Air disaster, when he and wife Margie, who worked with him as his videographer, were the only television reporters allowed on the scene.
"Horrendous scene, dreadful scene. One I'll never forget for a long as I live. You know headless bodies, bodies laying about everywhere, pieces of bodies. It was just carnage. it was dreadful," Hudson said in 2000 of the incident.
"What many people consider my best and biggest story I consider my worst — the Arrow aircraft disaster in Gander in December 1985 when 356 Americans were wiped out in a few seconds," Hudson told The Coaster in 2006.
"We were the only TV crew that got into the actual crash site and the footage we took went all around the world. It was my biggest story, but I didn't really enjoy doing it as it was so sad."
Hudson much preferred telling stories about life in rural Newfoundland where people liked and respected him.
He and Margie were known for travelling everywhere and anywhere for a story. He became a household name for his reporting and his signature, distinctive sign-offs.
He and Margie retired in 1992 to a house they built in St. Alban's.
