Milton William Ryan Dunnell (December 24, 1905 – January 3, 2008) was a Canadian sportswriter, known chiefly for his work at the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

''.

Early life

Dunnell was born in St. Marys, Ontario, Canada on December 24, 1905 and attended St. Marys Collegiate Institute.

Career

After graduating he worked part-time for the post office and a sales representative for a fruit company. Dunnell became a full-time local correspondent for the '' Stratford Beacon Herald'' in 1929 and stayed as a sports editor until 1942. During his time in Stratford, Dunnell met his future wife Dorothy Theresa Pigeon and they married in the rectory, not a church, due to their mixed religions. Dunnell eventually became the sports editor for the ''

'' where he wrote on almost all sports during his career, including the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

, Stanley and

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 ...

events, and the Kentucky Derby. During his sports reporting career, Dunnell placed his wallet in his righthand hip pocket, which caused him to be repeatedly pickpocketed. Despite urges to move his wallet, he refused, and fellow reporter Jim Coleman would walk paces behind him to ensure there were no thieves.

Awards

By the end of his career, he was awarded the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award and Jack Graney Award. He was also inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame,

Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame was established in 1976 to honour those who have made a significant contribution to the sport of harness racing, harness and Thoroughbred racing, Thoroughbred horse racing in Canada. It is located at Woodbine ...

, Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, and Canadian Sports Hall of Fame. On June 10, 2006, the City of Toronto named a baseball diamond after Dunnell. Dunnell died on January 3, 2008, at the age of 102 at North York General Hospital of pneumonia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunnell, Milt 1905 births 2008 deaths Canadian men centenarians Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductees Canadian sportswriters Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award recipients People from St. Mary's, Ontario Toronto Star people Deaths from pneumonia in Ontario