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The Toronto Sun, Thursday June 29, 2000 D.J.'s spinning a different tune
"My name is Mark and I am a drug addict and an alcoholic." Now you don't hear that on your radio airwaves everyday. Actually, if you listen to Talk 640 these days, perhaps you do. Remember Dr. Johnny Fever? Well, Mark Elliot is just like that guy -- the stereotypical veteran radio jock. Anyone who grew up in Ottawa will certainly remember him fondly from his decade or so on top of the ratings on CFRA doing the coolest evening rock show. But they may also remember him for his famous speech on air where he resigned in protest. "I got mad", laughs the graduate of Vaughan Rd. Collegiate. "They were going to change the format to oldies." The truth is, playing oldies wasn't Elliot's only problem. It wasn't until he lost it all that he realized he was a drug addict and an alcoholic who had thrown away an amazingly successful high-profile life. Well, last week, after five years on the air in Windsor, Elliot brought his People Helping People show to Toronto radio as he conducts perhaps the world's largest unofficial AA and NA meeting between 11 p.m. and midnight. "You name them, I have partied with them," he said of rack stars. "I snorted a radio network up my nose. I was leading a double/triple life. I was nuts." We are sitting in the Golden Griddle on Carlton St., it's 2 a.m. and there are two hookers sitting at the table behind us. Outside the window we can see panhandlers stumbling by. This is perfect for Elliot, who understands the dark side of life, but when he's out late now, he's drinking coffee.
"Howard Stern and I are aiming at the same audience -- the sewer," he jokes. But in that sewer, he said, there are a lot of good people who need help. His show is designed to do that. Sober for the past six years (it would be 13 years if not for a little slip in the middle), the 46 year old has a theme he regularly puts across: "Fight like hell." If they do, he says, they can get that second chance. He's living proof. And proud of it.
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