Like so many others, I was saddened to learn of the recent death of Don Maroc.

But it must be acknowledged that the 95-year-old led a full and interesting life, including several years as a columnist for the Cowichan Valley News Leader Pictorial.

His column was titled View From The Left, which reflected his politics. It ran as a book end to Patrick Hrushowy’s View From The Right.

A search through the newspaper archives shows that Don was a strong advocate for agriculture and farmers. He believed in good planning that avoided sprawl. He decried the export of raw logs. He issued warnings about climate change.

He quit his column in 2009, and the Pictorial closed in 2015.

“Don was many things,” reflects former Pictorial staffer Peter Rusland. “A reporter, husband, U.S. Marine, dad, boxer, school-board trustee, Mexican silver-mine project engineer, motorcycle lover, log salvager, dog lover, hobby farmer, conversationalist, ardent news fan, and history researcher."

Don was born in the U.S., in an industrial area south of Chicago.

“He walked the walk," Rusland says. "Highly literate and aware, he did not suffer unchecked stories, fakes, empty small talk, and blowhards — nor inane, wasteful bureaucracy — all that well.”

In an article published by sixmountains.ca in 2023, former Duncan councillor Sharon Jackson described Don as “an irascible man who has lived an astonishing life. (https://www.sixmountains.ca/article/111b9b34-b9e2-4212-b760-0d94e59cf0cb )

“He has accomplished much and has met and influenced many people along the way.”

She met Don soon after moving to Vancouver Island some 30 years ago. “A good friend to the late Richard Hughes, I spent much of one party talking to them both and they convinced me to run for council. The next 22 years (as councillor) changed my life.”

She also described Don as an “adventurer, a writer, a farmer, a dreamer and a man of decided opinion, which he does not hesitate to share with anyone who will stand still long enough to hear it.”

Speaking from personal experience, I met Don several times, including as recently as August, at Coffee on the Moon on Canada Avenue. He would park his scooter out front, and hold court with all manner of people. He drank regular coffee despite the constant din of cappuccino machines.

He remained extremely sharp, ever keen to discuss politics.

I learned of his death through a Nov. 27 social-media post by his friend, Judy Stafford, who said Don didn’t want a fuss made. “Raise a glass wherever you are — that's all he wanted.”

I would like to share one more memory — this one from one of Don’s own columns.

He wrote it in 2008 after the loss of his close friend, Celia Abram.

“Death, our inescapable destiny, has its place on every circle of life. Fortunately for we frail humans, its place is nearly always too far ahead to see clearly."

He added: “I lost a mentor and a friend, but we have all gained an inspiration that illuminates the remainder of our circles of life.”

— Larry Pynn, Dec. 16, 2025