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.