Re: Boris Spremo, former Toronto Star photographer, dies at 81, Aug. 22

Boris Spremo, former Toronto Star photographer, dies at 81, Aug. 22

Through example, Boris Spremo taught an important lesson to this young reporter in the mid 1970s.

We were all gathered outside an Etobicoke home where two high school girls had been murdered that night. The picture everyone impatiently waited for was the eventual removal of the bodies.

Meanwhile, Boris had carefully framed the silhouettes of police detectives against the drawn living-room curtains, questioning witnesses to the crime.

The next day, it was a telling front page for Boris. The lesson: Don’t go for the obvious; search the poignant.

John D. Burke, Iroquois, Ont.