Frank Orr

Frank Orr
Frank Orr
Born	William Franklin Orr; May 28, 1936; near Hillsburgh, Ontario, Canada
Died	February 13, 2021 (aged 84); Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Occupation(s)	journalist, author
Years active	1962–2021
Employer	The Toronto Star
Spouse	Shirley Turner (m. 1961; died 2019)

William Franklin Orr (May 28, 1936 – February 13, 2021) was a Canadian sports author and journalist.^[3]^[1]

Career

Born and raised on a farm near Hillsburgh, Ontario, Orr attended Guelph Collegiate^[4] 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.^[5] He has also authored over 30 books related to sports and has contributed to over 60 additional titles.^[5]

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]^[6] 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.^[7]