George Gross who has been a fulltime sports journalist in Canada for 44
years, arrived in Canada in 1950 with a limited knowledge of English and
$4.50 in his pocket.
He was born in January 1923 in Bratislava, Slovakia, and at age 27
escaped from his home to Austria by rowing across the Danube River. Upon
arrival in Canada, he worked on a farm for $30 a month with room and
board.
After a freelance career with the Toronto Telegram and on radio stations
CKFH and CFRB, including coverage of the 1958 World Cup in Sweden,
George was offered a fulltime job with The Telegram in January 1959. He
stayed with the paper until its demise in 1971, when he became sports
editor of the Toronto Sun, a function he held for 15 years. He is now
corporate sports editor of The Toronto Sun.
During his career, George won the 1974 National Newspaper Award, as well
as his newspaper chain’s Dunlop Award and authored three books: Toronto
Olympiad For The Handicapped (1976), Donald Jackson, King of Blades
(1977) and Hockey Night in Canada (1982-83).
George was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1985 and is the only
Canadian journalist who received the Olympic Order (1994). He’s a
member of Variety Village, has chaired the Conn Smythe Sports
Celebrities Dinner for Handicapped Children for 13 years and received
such honours as the Ontario Achievement Award (1973); the Ontario Medal
for Good Citizenship, Gold Medal of the International Ice Hockey
Federation in 1980; City of Toronto Medal and was the first recipient of
the Promises of Hope Award in 1999 for his work on behalf of the
Canadian Save The Children Fund.
George is currently president of Sports Media Canada and Life Member of the Association Internationale de la Presse Sportive.