Maurice Douglas Burnet Smith (November 30, 1909February 21, 1985) was an England-born Canadian journalist. He began working for the ''

Winnipeg Free Press The ''Free Press'' (or FP; founded as the ''Manitoba Free Press''; previously known as the ''Winnipeg Free Press'') is a daily (excluding Sunday) broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It provides coverage of local, provincial, natio ...

'' in 1927, became a

sports journalist Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in a par ...

in 1930, then served as the paper's sports editor from 1944 to 1976. He wrote a regular sports column titled "Time Out", and frequently reported on baseball,

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

, curling, and

Canadian football Canadian football, or simply football, is a Sports in Canada, sport in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete on a field long and wide, attempting to advance a Ball (gridiron football), pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposi ...

. He helped establish the Canadian High School Curling Championships in 1951, and was the founding president of the Manitoba Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association in 1955. He covered 33 consecutive

Grey Cup The Grey Cup () is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested between the winners ...

championships before retirement, then served on the selection committees of

Canada's Sports Hall of Fame Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (; sometimes referred to as the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame) is a Canadian sports hall of fame and museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Dedicated to the history of sports in Canada, it serves as a hall of fame and mu ...

and the

Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum The Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum is a Canadian museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, dedicated to honoring the history and achievements of sports in Manitoba. The organization began in 1980, and then opened a museum in The Forks in 1993. Afte ...

. He was made a life member of the

Manitoba Curling Association Curl Manitoba or CurlManitoba (registered as the Manitoba Curling Association) is the provincial sport governing body for curling in Manitoba. Its stated mission is "to promote, develop and grow the sport of curling in Manitoba, Canada and the wo ...

in 1970, inducted into the Football Reporters of Canada section of the

Canadian Football Hall of Fame The Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF) is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates achievements in Canadian football. It is maintained by the Canadian Football League (CFL). It includes displays about the CFL, ...

in 1982, and was posthumously inducted into the

Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame The Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame and Museum is a hall of fame and museum for ice hockey in Manitoba, located on the main level of the Canada Life Centre in downtown Winnipeg. It was established in 1985, when the first honoured members were named ...

in 1987.

Early life

Maurice Douglas Burnet Smith was born on November 30, 1909, in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England. He was the youngest of two children to parents George and Mary Smith, had English heritage, and immigrated to

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

in 1913. He worked as a

paperboy A paperboy is someoneoften an older child or adolescentwho distributes printed newspapers to homes or offices on a regular route, usually by bicycle or automobile. In Western nations during the heyday of print newspapers during the early 20th cen ...

in his youth and was rewarded for his service with a gold watch at age 10. He became a

copy boy A copy boy is a typically young and junior worker on a newspaper. The job involves taking typed stories from one section of a newspaper to another. According to Bruce Guthrie, the former editor-in-chief of the ''Herald Sun'' who began work there ...

for the business department of the ''

'' in 1927, then became a sports reporter in the early 1930s. He went to Scotland in 1937, where he wrote programs for the Scottish Ice Hockey Association, and met his wife Ann McKenzie in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

. They married on October 13, 1939, moved to Winnipeg in 1940, then Smith resumed working for the ''Free Press''.

Sports editor

Smith became sports editor of the ''Free Press'' in 1944, succeeding Ed Armstrong who vacated the position to become city editor. Smith wrote the sports column "Time Out", and reported regularly on baseball,

, curling, and

. He followed the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play thei ...

and covered 33 consecutive

championships. In collaboration with

Ken Watson James Kenneth Watson, (August 12, 1904 – July 26, 1986) was a Canadian curler. Biography Watson was born in Minnedosa, Manitoba and moved to Winnipeg later. He was the first man to skip his rink to three Brier championships in 1936, 1942 ...

and others, Smith helped establish the Canadian High School Curling Championships in 1951. Smith was the founding president of the Manitoba Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association (MSSA) in 1955, which established an annual awards banquet to honour Manitoba's athletes as of 1956. He established the "Spirit of Christmas Fund" within the ''Free Press'' sports department in 1971, as a means to help the less fortunate in Winnipeg. Smith retired from the ''Free Press'' on March 27, 1976, and was given a testimonial dinner attended by 300 sportsmen at the Winnipeg Inn. He was succeeded as sports editor by

Hal Sigurdson Harold Bjorn Sigurdson (July 1, 1932January 16, 2012) was a Canadian sports journalist. He started writing for the ''Winnipeg Free Press'' in 1951, then covered the Canadian Football League as a writer, television commentator, and radio host. H ...

, who stated that Smith talked him into returning to Winnipeg from Vancouver to be his successor.

Personal life

Smith had one son and one daughter, and was a resident of the St. James neighbourhood of Winnipeg. His hobbies included golf, fishing, collecting coins and stamps. He was a

Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

and a member of lodges in Perth and Winnipeg. In retirement, he served on the selection committees of

and the

. While on vacation in Hawaii, Smith died from heart failure on February 21, 1985. His remains were cremated and returned to Winnipeg.

Honours and legacy

The

made Smith a life member in 1970. He was inducted into the Football Reporters of Canada section of the

in 1982. The MSSA established the Maurice Smith Memorial Award in December 1985, to be given to the team of the year in Manitoba sports. He was posthumously named to the honour roll of the MSSA in 1986, and inducted into the

in 1987. Hal Sigurdson felt that Smith's writing style was fair, and that he kept personal feelings and news judgment separate. Sigurdson wrote that, Smith was a humble person who did not talk about his own exploits, and the Smith regularly said he was the "luckiest guy in the world" to make a living in journalism.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Maurice 1909 births 1985 deaths 20th-century Canadian journalists Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees Canadian Freemasons Canadian male journalists Canadian sportswriters English emigrants to Canada Journalists from London Journalists from Winnipeg Writers from Winnipeg