Jack Evans
Retired Journalist
Belleville Intelligencer, The Trentonian and The Picton County Weekly News
Jack Evans has been a journalistic stalwart for over 65 years and is currently the dean of news in the Bay of Quinte area. Jack was bitten by the journalism bug during his time as a boy chorister in Belleville where, using a borrowed typewriter, he would peck out submissions on the chorus’s activities for the Intelligencer.
After trying banking and radio journalism, Jack made his way back into print, including stops at the Lindsay Daily Post and the Stratford Beacon Herald before returning closer to home as the Picton bureau chief for the Kingston Whig-Standard. Missing the camaraderie of the newsroom, Evans accepted the job of assistant editor of the Picton Gazette and became an involved member of the community as a Kinsmen, church chorister and fundraiser.
After another sojourn into daily newspapering in Oshawa and Sudbury, Jack returned to Picton, this time as the Gazette’s editor. He later served as news editor of the Trentonian, before finishing his career back where it began in Belleville writing for the Intelligencer. Although he retired in 1999, Jack’s columns continue to appear in the area’s Postmedia publications.
He also served as a municipal councillor in Picton and has taken part in over 30 live performances at the historic Regent Theatre. As Picton Gazette editor Jason Parks wrote of Evans: “To say he’s engrained in the fabric of Prince Edward County is underselling the sentiment. A respected community figure outside of his writing, Jack Evans’ work in the pages of the Picton Gazette was fulsome, engaging, accurate and well read.”
Throughout his career, Evans served as example of how to do journalism right, treating every story – from amateur theatrical productions to the deployment of local soldiers to Cyprus – with the same high level of care and respect for its subjects, understanding that every article is important to those involved in it. “I cherish all my years as a journalist, the places, the stories and especially the colourful cast of people I have met,” Evans said. “I believe that when you do a story, it is not really your story, but that of the person you are writing about.”
One of Jack’s former editors, Chris Malette, described him as “the epitome of the weekly newspaperman of yore who just hasn’t got the memo that the smalltown news isn’t worth covering anymore.”
This is why the Ontario Community Newspapers Association is thrilled to announce Jack Evans as an inductee of the OCNA Hall of Fame.
The OCNA Hall of Fame Award recognizes and celebrates individuals who have made exemplary contributions to Ontario’s community newspapers. Inductees are respected community news professionals who have remained passionate about the industry throughout challenges, opportunities, and changes. They are leaders who have helped community newspapers adapt and grow.