Jacques Blackstone, who ran for mayor of Maple Ridge in the last election, passed away suddenly just two weeks after the October vote.
An obituary submitted recently by family shows Blackstone died on Oct. 29, 2022 at the age of 56. General voting day in BC was Oct. 15.
He left behind two teenage sons.
Blackstone wanted to bring a fresh approach to local politics, and one of his ideas was to turn Maple Ridge into an entertainment Mecca, and as mayor he would have pitched that Playland should move to Maple Ridge from Vancouver.
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Blackstone finished last among the five candidates who ran for mayor. He also ran for a council seat in 2011.
Blackstone was a local businessman, who ran GT’s Projection Ltd. for 35 years. It was a supplier of major post production facilities in the movie industry. He was a longtime Kitsilano resident who moved to Maple Ridge in 2004, to live and run his business.
He was also a talented musician who studied music at North Texas State University, and after he moved to Vancouver in 1986 started a successful career in the industry. He wrote the theme song for the Banff Mountain Film Festival in 1997, produced movie music tracks, played in successful bands, and worked as a sound engineer. His obituary notes that Blackstone had “the uncanny ability to master any musical instrument.”
A tree will be planted in Maple Ridge Park in Blackstone’s memory.
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