Red Fisher (journalist)
{{Short description|Canadian sports journalist}}
{{other people||Red Fisher (disambiguation){{!}}Red Fisher}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2013}}
{{Infobox person
|name=Red Fisher
|image=Red Fisher.jpg
|imagesize=
|caption=Fisher in December 2009
|birth_name=Saul Fisher
|birth_date={{birth date|df=yes|1926|8|22}}
|birth_place=Montreal, Quebec, Canada
|death_date={{death date and age|df=yes|2018|1|19|1926|8|22}}
|death_place=
|occupation=Sports journalist
|years_active=1955–2012
|spouse={{marriage|Tillie Fisher|1948|2018|reason=died}}
}}
Saul "Red" Fisher, {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|CM}} (22 August 1926 – 19 January 2018) was a Canadian sports journalist who wrote about the National Hockey League and the Montreal Canadiens in his newspaper column. Fisher received the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award in 1985.{{Cite web | url=http://www.legendsofhockey.net/html/leg_writers.htm | accessdate=2006-11-11 | publisher=Hockey Hall of Fame | title=Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award Winners | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071230101939/http://www.legendsofhockey.net/html/leg_writers.htm | archivedate=30 December 2007 }} He was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1999,{{Cite web | url=http://www.jewishsports.net/BioPages/RedFisher.htm | accessdate=2006-11-11 | publisher=International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame | title=Red Fisher (biography) }} and became a Member of the Order of Canada (CM) in 2017.{{Cite news | url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/order-of-canada-list-announced-a-guide-to-whos-being-honoured/article37454374/ | work=The Globe and Mail | accessdate=2017-12-30 | title=Order of Canada list announced }}
Biography
Fisher was born in Montreal in 1926 and was given the nickname "Red" for the colour of his hair as a young man.Red's hockey reporting gets the gold; Red Fisher has covered 17 of Habs' Stanley Cup titles. Boone, Mike. Star – Phoenix [Saskatoon, Sask] 28 August 2010: B.4.
Fisher began his hockey reporting for The Montreal Star on 17 March 1955, the night of the Richard Riot.{{cite news | url=https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/long-time-montreal-canadiens-reporter-red-fisher-dead-91/ | title=Long-time Montreal Canadiens reporter Red Fisher dead at 91 | date=19 January 2018 | agency=The Canadian Press | publisher=Sportsnet | accessdate=2 May 2019 }} He remained as writer and sports editor until the Star's demise in 1979. He then joined the Montreal Gazette as sports editor (for a short time), where his columns continued to appear.{{cite web|url=https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/montreal-gazette-sports-reporter-red-fisher-dies-at-91-1.3767456|title=Montreal Gazette sports reporter Red Fisher dies at 91|publisher=Montreal CTV News|accessdate=19 January 2018|date=19 January 2018}}
He covered the Montreal Canadiens when they won five Stanley Cups in a row in the 1950s, and during their dynasty years in the 1960s and 1970s. Fisher said Habs legend Dickie Moore was his closest friend.{{Cite web |last=Fisher |first=Red |date=December 20, 2015 |title=Red Fisher: Remembering great friend and Habs legend Dickie Moore, dead at age 84 |url=https://montrealgazette.com/sports/hockey/red-fisher-remembering-great-friend-and-habs-legend-dickie-moore-who-has-died-at-age-84 |access-date=January 25, 2024 |website=Montreal Gazette}} He was also at the 1972 Summit Series between NHL players and the Soviet national team. Fisher was known for his "no-nonsense approach" to his career, such as his refusal to talk to rookies and walk away if a player answered his questions with cliches.
Fisher served as president of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association from 1968 to 1970.{{cite web|url=http://www.thephwa.com/about-the-phwa/|title=About the PHWA|year=2021|website=Professional Hockey Writers' Association|access-date=23 January 2021}} He was the longest-serving beat writer to cover an NHL team. Over his career, he worked for ten editors and publishers, and won the Canadian National Newspaper Award three times.{{cite web |last=Basu |first=Arpon |date=19 January 2018 |title=Red Fisher 1928-2018 |url=https://theathletic.com/216923/2018/01/19/red-fisher-1928-2018/ |accessdate=19 January 2018 |publisher=The Athletic}} His retirement was announced by Gazette publisher Alan Allnutt in a column on 8 June 2012.{{cite news | first=Alan | last=Allnutt | url=https://montrealgazette.com/Legendary+Fisher+calls+career/6750726/story.html | title=Legendary Fisher Calls it a Career | newspaper=Montreal Gazette | date=8 June 2012}} He continued to write guest articles for the Gazette until his death.
Fisher died at the age of 91 on 19 January 2018.{{Cite web |date=2018-01-19 |title=Red Fisher, longtime Canadiens writer, dies at 91 {{!}} NHL.com |url=https://www.nhl.com/news/red-fisher-longtime-montreal-canadiens-writer-dies-at-91-295092904 |access-date=2024-01-25 |website=www.nhl.com |language=en}}{{cite web |last=Spector |first=Mark |date=19 January 2018 |title=Remembering Red Fisher's unmatched personality and flair |url=http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/remembering-red-fishers-unmatched-personality-flair/ |accessdate=19 January 2018 |publisher=Sportsnet}} His wife of 69 years, Tillie Fisher, had died ten days earlier.
Books
- {{Cite book | title=Hockey, Heroes and Me | first=Red | last=Fisher | date=15 October 1994 | publisher=McClelland & Stewart | isbn=978-0-7710-3147-2 }}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/columnists/red_fisher.html Montreal Gazette: Red Fisher], accessed 11 November 2006
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fisher, Red}}
Category:Anglophone Quebec people
Category:Canadian sportswriters
Category:Canadian television sportscasters
Category:Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award recipients
Category:Jewish Canadian journalists
Category:Members of the Order of Canada
Category:Montreal Gazette people