Award-winning Ottawa Sun columnist passes away
Posted Oct 17, 2011 04:45:13 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
An award-winning columnist for the Ottawa Sun died Saturday evening.
According to the Citizen, Earl McRae was out on assignment earlier Saturday and he mentioned he didn’t feel well.
McRae reportedly died of a heart attack.
Tributes to McRae are pouring in to Twitter, including one from Jack FM Calgary’s Eric Francis.
“If there’s a more creative sports writer in Canada than Earl McRae I’ve yet to meet him,” he tweeted. “So saddened by his passing today of a heart attack.”
Mike Therien, Sun Media’s vice president of multiplatform content took to twitter to offer his condolences.
“Earl McRae could make you laugh, cry and fume in three consecutive columns. At his best, he had a rare gift,” he tweeted.
He added, “Nobody could tell a story better than Earl McRae. He could talk as well as he could write.”
Over his career McRae was the winner of three National Magazine Gold Awards for sports journalism, two silvers and he had been a finalist eight times.
He also won three Ontario Newspaper Awards for columns and had been a runner-up finalist in the National Newspaper Awards.
Last fall, he was inducted into Algonquin College’s Media and Design Hall of Fame for lifetime achievement.
During his career, McRae also worked for the Ottawa Citizen, the Cornwall Standard-Freeholder, Peterborough Examiner, Toronto star and the Canadian magazine.
McRae spent the last 20 years with the Ottawa Sun.
