Eric Koch facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Eric Koch
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Eric Koch in Frankfurt am Main in 2009
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| Born |
Erich Koch
31 August 1919 |
| Died | 28 April 2018 (aged 98) |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Other names | Otto Koch |
| Occupation | Author, broadcaster, professor |
| Spouse(s) | Sonia |
| Children | 3 |
Eric Otto Koch (born August 31, 1919 – died April 28, 2018) was a Canadian writer, radio and TV host, and university professor. He was born in Germany.
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Eric Koch's Early Life
Eric Koch was born in 1919 in Frankfurt, Germany. His family was well-known and had Jewish heritage. His grandfather was a special jeweller for the royal court. His father, Otto, was an officer in the German Army during World War I. Sadly, his father died during a medical operation when Eric was a baby. Eric was first named Erich, but after his father passed away, he was renamed Otto to honor him.
Moving to England and Canada
In 1935, when the Nazis came to power in Germany, Eric's family sent him to a boarding school in England. He studied at Cranbrook School in Kent. Later, he went to St. John's College at Cambridge University to study economics and then law.
In 1940, during World War II, Eric and other Germans living in Britain were held as "enemy aliens." This meant they were seen as a risk because their home country was at war with Britain. Eric was sent to Canada and stayed in a special camp in Sherbrooke, Quebec.
However, in 1941, the Canadian government realized that Eric and many others were actually victims of the Nazis. They were released. Eric's mother had escaped Germany before the war. She contacted friends in Montreal, the Birks family, who were jewellers. They took care of Eric. His guardians suggested he change his name from Otto because it sounded too German during wartime. So, he changed Erich to Eric.
Eric had already earned his economics degree from Cambridge, even though he wasn't there to receive it in person. He then continued his studies at the University of Toronto and earned his law degree. He paid for his education by writing articles for an encyclopedia.
Starting His Career
After finishing university in 1943, Eric taught French at Appleby College for a short time. Then, he worked as a writer for Saturday Night magazine.
Eric Koch's Broadcasting Career
In 1944, Eric joined the German Section of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). This was Canada's new International Service. They broadcast programs from Montreal to Germany. At first, this was part of Canada's effort to influence people's minds during World War II. Later, it helped teach Germans about democracy.
Eric stayed with the CBC for 35 years. He later moved to the English language service of CBC. From 1953 to 1967, he worked in the Department of Talks and Public Affairs in Toronto.
Producing TV Shows
In the 1960s, Eric was a producer for the CBC-TV talk show Take 30. He hired Adrienne Clarkson, who later became the Governor General of Canada, as a reporter for the show.
In 1964, he became the main producer for This Hour Has Seven Days. This was a new and sometimes debated TV show about current events. Eric later wrote a book about this program. In 1967, he became the leader for arts and science programs. He helped create many radio and television shows. He hired famous people like Barbara Amiel and David Suzuki. From 1971 to 1977, he was the regional director in Montreal.
Eric retired from the CBC in 1979. He wanted to focus on writing books and teaching at York University. He taught a course called "The Politics of Canadian Broadcasting" for 18 years, even into his eighties. He also helped start the Couchiching Conference in the 1980s.
Eric Koch's Books
Eric Koch published his first novel, The French Kiss, when he was 50 years old. It was about Charles de Gaulle and Quebec. Over the next 48 years, he wrote 15 novels in English, one novel in German, and a play. His books included different styles, from satire (funny writing that makes fun of something) to historical fiction (stories set in the past). He also wrote five non-fiction books.
His book Hilmar and Odette won the Yad Vashem Prize for Holocaust Writing in 1996. This book told the story of two of his relatives who stayed in Germany during World War II.
Many of his historical fiction books were set in Germany's past, especially from the late 1800s to the Weimar Republic era. These books were published in both Germany and Canada. Eric Koch passed away in April 2018 at the age of 98. His final novel, Beethoven’s Locket, was released on the very day he died.
Satirical Fiction
- The French Kiss: A Tongue-In-Cheek Political Fantasy (1969)
- The Leisure Riots (1973)
- The Last Thing You'd Want to Know (1976)
- Goodnight, Little Spy (1979)
Historical Fiction
- Icon In Love: A Novel About Goethe (1999)
- The Man Who Knew Charlie Chaplin (2000)
- Earrings: Baden-Baden 1885 (2002)
- Premonitions: A novel (2008)
- Arabian nights! 1914: a novel about Kaiser Wilhelm II (2010)
- The Weimar Triangle (2010)
- Beethoven’s Locket (2018)
Science Fiction
- Kassandrus (1988)
- C.R.U.P.P.: Two Science Fiction Novels (1990; contains The Leisure Riots and The Last Thing You'd Want to Know)
Non-fiction
- Success of a mission: Lord Durham in Canada (1961)
- Deemed Suspect: A Wartime Blunder (1985) (about his life)
- Inside Seven Days: The Show That Shook the Nation (1986)
- Hilmar and Odette: Two Stories from the Nazi Era (1995)
- The Brothers Hambourg (2000)
- I Remember the Location Exactly (2010) (about his family history)
- The Golden Years: Encounters with Glenn Gould, Marshall McLuhan, Lester B. Pearson, René Lévesque and John G. Diefenbaker (2013)
- Otto and Daria: A Wartime Journey Through No Man's Land (2016) (about his life)
