Veteran Winnipeg journalist Val Werier dead at 96

Veteran Winnipeg journalist Val Werier died Monday at age 96. Werier had a career spanning more than 75 years. He started as a freelancer for the Winnipeg Tribune and after its demise in 1980, he joined the Winnipeg Free Press.

Veteran Winnipeg journalist Val Werier died Monday at age 96. Werier had a career spanning more than 75 years. He started as a freelancer for the Winnipeg Tribune and after its demise in 1980, he joined the Winnipeg Free Press.

In his last column in the Free Press, published in 2013, Werier reflected on his early days as a journalist. "I got my first byline as a reporter 75 years ago, freelancing for the Winnipeg Tribune at a princely sum of 20 cents per column inch. How happy I was to open the newspaper and see my name in print," he said.

The Free Press said Werier wrote “unrelentingly as a champion of the environment long before it was fashionable.”

Werier received both the Order of Canada and the Order of Manitoba and was honoured by the Winnipeg Press Club with its President's Award for Someone Who Made a Difference.

Related content on J-Source: