Frank Orr Explained

Frank Orr
Birth Name:William Franklin Orr
Birth Date:28 May 1936
Birth Place:near Hillsburgh, Ontario, Canada
Death Place:Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Occupation:journalist, author
Employer:The Toronto Star
Years Active:1962–2021
Spouse:[1]

William Franklin Orr (May 28, 1936 – February 13, 2021) was a Canadian sports author and journalist.[2]

Career

Born and raised on a farm near Hillsburgh, Ontario, Orr attended Guelph Collegiate[3] and started out working for radio stations in Chatham and Sault Ste. Marie. He also was a sports editor with the Guelph Mercury and Cornwall Standard-Freeholder. He joined the Toronto Star in 1961, and covered the National Hockey League, and specifically the Toronto Maple Leafs. He also wrote on the 1972 Summit Series and several IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships.[4] He has also authored over 30 books related to sports and has contributed to over 60 additional titles.

He won the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1989 in the media category, and received a lifetime achievement award from Sports Media Canada in 2003. In 2004, he was honoured with an induction into the Etobicoke Sports Hall of Fame.[5] Orr was inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame in 2021, with voters citing his contribution to motorsport coverage in The Toronto Star as significant to Canadian motorsport.[6]

Orr resided in Etobicoke with his wife Shirley. He died on February 13, 2021, at the age of 84.[7] [8]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: SHIRLEY JANE ORR Obituary (2019) Toronto Star. Legacy.com.
  2. n 50002190.
  3. Book: Hurricane Hazel: Canada's Storm of the Century. Gifford, J.. Filey, M.. 2004. Dundurn Group. 9781550025262. 28. 2015-08-13.
  4. Web site: Etobicoke Sports Hall of Fame - Inductees 2004 - Frank Orr. https://web.archive.org/web/20130329071104/http://www.etobicokesports.ca/2004/orr_frank.htm. 2013-03-29. dead. 2015-08-13.
  5. Book: Canadiens Legends: Montreal's Hockey Heroes. Leonetti, M.. Beliveau, J.. 2005. Raincoast Books. 9781551927312. 240. 2015-08-13.
  6. Web site: CMHF class of 2021 inductee bios. December 15, 2021. June 7, 2022. cmhf.ca. Canadian Motorsport Heritage Foundation.
  7. Web site: Zwolinski. Mark. February 13, 2021. 'We have lost another legend.' Longtime Star sports writer Frank Orr, 84, had the ear of the hockey world. Toronto Star. February 13, 2021.
  8. Web site: William Franklin (Frank) Orr | Toronto | Turner & Porter Funeral Directors.