A heavyweight of the sports journalism world died Monday morning at the age of 82.
Jim Taylor wrote more than 7,500 sports columns and 15 books during a celebrated career that spanned more than six decades.
His former colleague at The Province, Tony Gallagher, said Taylor’s witty commentary captivated readers.
“He was absolutely, outrageously funny,” Gallagher said. “He brought everybody to the sports pages, not just the sports fans.”
Taylor’s career started when he was still in high school. A teacher noted his talent and helped him hand a job at the Times Colonist in Victoria.
He had previously joked that he didn’t think the gig would last longer than a year and he kept his paper route job as a backup.
But it was the start of his storied career. He covered memorable events, including the 1972 Summit Series, the notorious fight between Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, and Rick Hansen’s Man in Motion tour.
“He was popularly liked and critically liked. That's not a common combination of sport writing in the country,” said Tom Mayenknecht, chair of the BC Sports Hall of Fame.
Mayenknecht said Taylor inspired generations of journalists.
“There are so many people who are not only sports writers, but in the business of sport, because of Jim Taylor.”
While his contributions as a sports journalist will be remembered by many, he rejected the notion of being known as simply a sports writer.
In 2010, he told the Jack Webster Foundation, “I always said that I was a people writer and the people that I wrote about happen to be kicking this ball or shooting this puck –- but it’s people first.”
Taylor was inducted into the CFL and BC Sports Hall of Fame and earned Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Jack Webster Foundation and Sports Media Canada.
