Noted Vancouver Film writer battles cancer
Peers rally to support Ian Caddell in time of need
March 8, 2011 [Vancouver BC] After a long month in the hospital, a period that included Christmas, respected film writer Ian Caddell is home again where he is recovering from the debilitating side effects of radiation and chemotherapy treatments and is kept alive by tubes for both respiration and for feeding.
Caddell’s battle with cancer of the larynx includes not only physical challenges, but also financial ones. These have been kept private for the most part, but now his peers call out on his behalf for help. A trust fund has been set up at Vancity Credit Union to assist single father Caddell and his four sons with the financial realities of everyday life. The Trust Fund has been set up at Vancity Credit Union (Branch 2, Account 705285.) For those wishing to contribute, donations may be made at Vancity or via other inter-bank transfers.
Ian Caddell has been writing about film since the 1980s. He is the celebrity interviewer for the Georgia Straight and editor of Reel West magazine, Western Canada’s only trade magazine for the film and television industry. Caddell has written about thousands of show business personalities with notables including Steven Spielberg, Johnny Depp, Tom Cruise, Clint Eastwood, Beyoncé, Reese Witherspoon, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Tupac Shakur and Meryl Streep.
Caddell’s stories about the film and television industry – for Variety, Hollywood Reporter Reel West Magazine and The Georgia Straight over the past 25 years – have arguably made an impact on an industry that firmly rooted itself in business and entertainment culture here over that period of time.
Reel West publisher, Ron Harvey, is calling for action. “Ian is such a good person. He has given time and attention to so many and has made such a strong contribution to this industry. I am hoping that those who have been supported by Ian will return the support.”
With Caddell unable to speak, due to the necessary Tracheotomy that enabled him to breathe past the tumour in his throat, nor to write due to lack of energy from his recovery, the family’s every day expenses are mounting. (Fortunately, Caddell is receiving some much-needed financial support from the Straight during this period and says he is grateful to the paper and its publisher Dan McLeod.) Stephanie Nicolls, a close family friend, urges those in the Vancouver film industry, as well as Caddell’s local readers, movie-lovers and people and families who can relate to this catastrophic situation, to give what they can.
“One of his Oncologists at the BC Cancer Agency made it clear that Ian wouldn’t be back to his ‘old self’, for at least a full year if he is lucky enough to be on the right side of the statistics,” she says. “Ian is one of the kindest, optimistic and hardest working people I know. He gives so much support to the local film industry. He co-founded the Vancouver Film Critics Circle, which he saw as yet another way to promote the industry, and is a friend to everyone he comes across. Now he is battling this beast with such grace and optimism. Not once has he asked ‘Why Me?’ I call on Ian’s friends and fans – personal and professional – on families who can help another family in dire straits, on anyone who has a heart to get involved and give what they can, whatever that amount may be.”
For more information contact: Ron Harvey at 604-451-7335 or ron@reelwest.com or
John Nicolls at 604-683-7454 or jnicolls@grossmanstanley.com