Mark had a bunch of stories to tell. He loved talking about the old days. Mark was always quick to shoot me an e-mail and tell me some story about some type of trouble he and Rivers and other CHUM castmates got into back in the day.
Tom, Mike Cooper and Dailey all got the same type of car. Forgot which one. But it was a two-door. Two door fast convertible type. With the beer talking, they all decided to have a race to see which one of the girls were the fastest. Up the road? Nope. Around the block? Nah. Race back to Rivers and Dailey's apartment? Not that either. The three hippie broadcasters were outside of CHUM studios and decided the route. To Winsdor. The plan was to drive up to Windsor and the finish line would be the studios of CHUM's sister station, the BIG 8 CKLW. So, they all got ready. Mark, Set, Go. The three were on their way. It took Mark and Mike just under 4 hours to get to the destination. Thinking they were the first, Mark stopped off to get a lottery ticket. Finally got to CKLW. Running into the booth, Mark saw the big boots. That only could be Tom as he stood at almost 7 feet tall. Tom, smoking a cigar, yelled out "Took you long enough. I've been here for half hour!".
Another time the three were together was when they stole from The Kids. After a shift, Tom, Mike and Mark were searching for The Green. As it was late, they knew where to hit. The park. They decided to hit all the little subdivisions by CHUM and see if anyone was out smoking the ganja. Soon enough they found three heads in the back of a park sitting in a circle. With smoke all around. Tom had an idea. Tall Tom got out of the car walking towards the three tots. With aggression in his voice, Tom quickly pulled out his wallet and yelled "POLICE! Give me your weed!". Not able to see Tom's ID properly, the kids obliged. They threw the baggies to a waiting Tom. Tom grabbed the dope and ran back to the car while the kids took off not wanting to be arrested by the three cops.
Fast forward a few decades. Mark had already made a staple as The Voice on CITY and made an impact on anyone who wanted to be in the Biz. He had become a Toronto landmark. Everyone knew about Mark. I already met him a couple of times and spoke to him every few months swapping old radio stories. But it was the other little notes I really liked. Whenever I felt stressed or overworked, I would shoot Mark an e-mail. Within a couple of hours, I would get a reply back. Most of the time, it was a short two liner. Sometimes, it was a paragraph. But all the time, they were words that I appreciated and kept close to my heart. All of them had the same line; "You got your head screwed in right, Shaner. Sometimes it just needs some tweaking. Hang in there. You're in the right direction, Bud."
His friendly baritone was an instant hit when he switched over to TV. Not many other news people can go without a script for five minutes (which is an eternity for live TV). His Everywhere has been placed in every Torontonians mind as a word that belongs only to CITY-TV. Witty one-liners, catchy comebacks and funny talk with broadcasting partners will always be remembered. But I think his good guy spirit will be what he will be known for the most. Both professionally and personally, I never heard anyone say anything bad about him. For me, He was a living example of someone who does what they love for a living and a very caring soul who loved to give back to the community.
You will be missed, Dailey. By everyone. Everywhere.
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