Michael Cooke, the longest serving Editor in the Toronto Star’s recent history, announced Friday that he will retire in June, after a lifetime in newspapers.“It’s been 49 years and it’s time to see what’s left to do in the rest of the world,” he said in a message to staff at One Yonge St., where the Toronto Star is headquartered.Cooke, 65, has been Editor for nine years. He plans to retire from the Star on June 1 and travel to the Middle East to work with an NGO.“Michael will go down as one of the great editors of the Toronto Star. His passion for investigative journalism, his flair on front pages and his editorial smarts are simply the finest. He is one of the greats,” said John Honderich, chair of Torstar, the Toronto Star’s parent company.Under Cooke’s editorial stewardship, the Toronto Star drew widespread acclaim for its investigative journalism, for holding governments and agencies accountable, and for its passionate pursuit of the principles established by founder Joseph E. Atkinson, including social justice and the protection of individual and civil liberties.Cooke said Friday that he regards the Star’s investigation of former mayor Rob Ford as one of the news highlights of his career at the Star. He cited as a personal highlight the Star’s successful effort to bring Afghani schoolgirl Roya Shams to Canada to continue her studies after her father was killed by the Taliban.Managing Editor Irene Gentle said Cooke was unflagging in his efforts to bring women up through the ranks of the organization into positions of power.“Something Michael never talks about, but has been a central theme of his leadership, is his promotion of women in the newsroom,” said Gentle.“We have a terrific management team in part because of Michael’s willingness to see beyond gender to the skill of those in the room, women and men. This has been really encouraging and has had a long-lasti ...
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