CLIFFORD JOHN DOERKSEN -

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CLIFFORD JOHN DOERKSEN 1963 - 2010 Clifford John Doerksen died unexpectedly in his sleep at his home in suburban Chicago, Illinois on December 17, 2010. Cliff is survived by his daughter Gladys and wife Elspeth Carruthers, his parents, Pat and Bill Doerksen of Winnipeg, his brothers Mark and Mike Doerksen, siblings-in-law Tara Regiec, Sarah Parry, Bruce Carruthers and Wendy Espeland, his nieces Kaitlin and Emily Regiec, Maxine Bennett and Esther Espeland, and nephews Peter and Harry Doerksen and Sam Carruthers. Cliff was born February 10, 1963 in Peace River, Alberta, the middle child of Pat and Bill's three sons. He attended public schools in Edmonton and Calgary, Alberta and Berwick, Nova Scotia before completing Grade 12 at Vincent Massey Collegiate in Winnipeg in 1981. From an early age Cliff loved music, movies (he introduced his brothers to the cinematic comedy of the Marx Brothers) and reading. He consumed science fiction novels voraciously, particularly the works of Philip K. Dick. Young Cliff was instrumental in the development of timeless family in-jokes like Polski Ogorki and Buddies to the End. Cliff did not go straight from high school to university despite his academic ability. He remained in Winnipeg for a time, waiting tables, playing crokinole and ice soccer, making music (and noise) with friends as Taste of Stool and watching late night re-runs of Quincy and Emergency. Cliff also traveled Canada as a participant in the Katimavik program and toured Europe and Turkey on his own. During his travels he was an exceptional correspondent and his letters to friends and family were filled with his characteristic wit. In the late 1980s Cliff enrolled as a full time undergraduate student at Montreal's Concordia University where he discovered history and Concordia's Liberal Arts College. At Liberal Arts College Cliff excelled and formed many enduring friendships. He was reliably the best prepared student in any seminar. While at Liberal Arts College Cliff's strengths as a scholar became evident, particularly his lively prose and strong skeptical streak. Cliff's hard work at Concordia resulted in his receiving a full scholarship to attend Princeton University as a doctoral student in U.S. history. His PhD dissertation on commercial radio in the 1920s challenged the conventional view that corporate interests imposed commercial radio on an unwilling public. In 2005 it was published as a book under the title American Babel: Rogue Radio Broadcasters of the Jazz Age. As a teacher Cliff won the respect and admiration of his students through his lucid and engaging lectures. In addition to teaching at Princeton, Northwestern University and the University of Illinois at Chicago, Cliff wrote extensively for the remainder of his life, particularly for the Chicago Reader and Time Out Chicago. His life long interest in movies led to his work as a film writer for those publications. He also wrote on diverse topics pertaining to American culture and history. His work appeared in the New York Times and on National Public Radio's This American Life program. He maintained a blog called the Hope Chest about miscellany of U.S. history and culture culled from old newspapers. His work on the Hope Chest led to his December 2009 cover feature for the Chicago Reader, The Real American Pie for which he won a James Beard Foundation Media Award for best newspaper feature writing. Cliff and Elspeth met at Princeton University and were married in 1999. Their daughter Gladys was born in 2004. Cliff was a devoted father to Gladys. Cliff's life was a mostly urban existence but he was keen on the outdoors as well. He was a comically bad skater but could paddle a canoe and cross-country ski admirably. Despite having his first lessons at the Eva Hanson school, he was an enthusiastic swimmer. There will be a celebration of Cliff's life in Chicago on the date of his 48th birthday, February 10, 2011. The family makes a no flowers request. Photo credit to Time Out Chicago with gratitude

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jan 08, 2011