Elmer Ferguson (February 25, 1885 – April 26, 1972) was a Canadian sports journalist. Born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Ferguson moved to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

in 1910 and became the sports editor of the Montreal Herald in 1913. Ferguson was one of the most respected and prominent columnists of his time. He became a Hockey Hall of Fame media honouree in 1982 and was the namesake of the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award.

Career

At the age of six, Ferguson started selling newspapers on the streets of Moncton,

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic Canad ...

and became a copy boy with the Moncton Transcript when he was 17. He soon became a sportswriter with the paper and became the news editor in 1910. With Ferguson as editor, the Moncton Transcript became the first Maritime newspaper to print a full sports page every day. Soon after, Ferguson left for Montreal where he got a job as an editor at the Montreal Herald. He became sports editor of the paper in 1913 and soon became a well-known sports journalist with his column "The Gist and the Jest of It". He was sports editor for the paper for 39 years and continued to write columns until the Herald folded in 1957. He continued to write columns for

The Montreal Star ''The Montreal Star'' was an English-language Canadian newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It closed in 1979 in the wake of an eight-month pressmen's strike. It was Canada's largest newspaper until the 1950s and remained the domi ...

until a few months before his death in 1972. In addition to his work in the print media, he was also a colour commentator on radio broadcasts for the Montreal Maroons (1933–1938) and the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

(1938–1952), where he was partnered with Hall of Fame broadcaster Doug Smith. Ferguson was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame as a builder in 1968. In 1984, Ferguson was recognized as one of the first Hockey Hall of Fame media honourees. The award that is given out was named the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award in his honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson, Elmer 1885 births 1972 deaths Canadian male journalists Canadian people of Scottish descent Canadian sportswriters Elmer Ferguson Award winners Journalists from Prince Edward Island National Hockey League broadcasters Writers from Charlottetown