"Reading his name conjured up strong images of the towering newspaper editor I'd worked with a decade ago. Built like a heavyweight boxer, but he moved like a cat. A genius with words and a wealth of writing wisdom, Charles was the senior editor on the Halifax Daily News and had written an iconic column on Black issues. The Daily News was a scrappy newspaper that broke a few noses in our city."
"I'd started working there as a night-shift copy editor in 2006. One colleague said working on the news rim was like doing your homework with friends late at night. We'd fall into a studious silence as we cleaned up the writing, checked the facts, and crafted the headlines, then burst into laughter when someone-occasionally Charles-made a pun too rude to publish but too delightful not to share."
"Often, as the laughter faded, one of us would look over to the centre of the rim, where Charles sat with his back to us, facing the harbour window, to ask him if we'd accidentally split an infinitive, only to find his empty chair spinning. He'd disappeared once more. People would work with Charles for years before hearing a rumour that he hadn't always been a Canadian."
In July 2020, a stranger's email mentioning Charles Saunders prompted contact. Charles was a towering editor at the Halifax Daily News and a sharp columnist on Black issues. Colleagues remembered his physical presence—built like a heavyweight boxer yet moving like a cat—and his genius with words and mentorship. Night-shift copy editors shared quiet focus, laughter at risqué puns, and occasional searches for Charles's empty, spinning chair after he had slipped away. He produced blistering editorials that called out city elites. Rumours circulated that he had not always been a Canadian and had origins elsewhere.
Read at The Walrus
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