A well-known public figure has published his memoir in hopes of shedding light on how members of the 2SLBGTQI+ community had to navigate life in the spotlight years ago.

Karl Wells is perhaps best remembered as the popular weatherman on CBC television in St. John’s for many years, but started his career as an actor.

Since retiring from the CBC after 32 years as a news anchor, presenter and weatherman, he’s also hosted his own programs on Rogers TV including One Chef, One Critic, and Karl Wells Point 2 Point.

Wells says his book Openly Karl, was written after speaking with young members of the 2SLBGTQI+ community who didn’t seem to recognize the kind of difficulties he faced during the early part of his career.

He recalls the AIDS crisis, something he calls a pretty tough time for the 2SLBGTQI+ community.

“There was a lot of homophobia, as you might expect, and cruelty in some ways,” and he thought “I should put all this in a book.” Wells and his husband Larry set up a scholarship at Memorial University in 2SLBGTQ Studies and “a lot of these kids who were being awarded this scholarship that has my name on it, they probably don’t know anything about me.”

Openly Karl is available through Breakwater Books.