Neil Ritchie, born in Vancouver, attended high school in West Vancouver and graduated with a degree in commerce from UBC.

He joined the CBC cataloguing records in the library, and after four years, he became a studio director for CBC radio’s Off the Record with Bob Kerr, and Hot Air with Bob Smith. Ritchie, who was with the CBC for 30 years, produced radio shows for the late Otto Lowy, Jurgen Gothe, Paul Grant and the late Alan Aberbach, who persuaded him to teach a class on jazz history in the Seniors Program (now the Adults 55+ Program) at Simon Fraser University.

With the experience he had gained working at CBC and a collection of videos and CDs, as well as his knowledge of music gained from playing piano and saxophone, he taught that first class in 1997 and is still a regular instructor for SFU.