Vancouver Whitecaps FC are mourning the loss of legendary Vancouver sports writer and friend of the club Jim Taylor, who passed away on Monday at the age of 82.
Taylor is widely considered to be one of the greatest Canadian sports columnists of all time.
He began his illustrious career as a high schooler at Victoria’s Daily Colonist, before spending three decades between the Vancouver Sun and Vancouver Province, and continuing his career from there. He also co-wrote the autobiography of Whitecaps FC president Bob Lenarduzzi – one of more than a dozen books that Taylor authored.
“I remember reading his work long before I even started with the Whitecaps,” Lenarduzzi said. “I remember as a kid just enjoying his columns because he always had the ability to find humour in any situation that he was referring to. You laughed, but you didn’t laugh at people. You laughed because of the way he framed things. Once I started playing for the Whitecaps, I got to know him and he was as funny in person as he was in his writing. He just had an unbelievable wit.”
“He is the standard,” Lenarduzzi continued. “Whenever you talked to the media that had the opportunity to be alongside him in a press box, at press conferences, inevitably they will always say he’s the best. He just had the ability to turn something mundane into something funny without crossing that line to being nasty. And that’s hard to do. I think he sets the standard for that kind of journalism.”
Lenarduzzi said he spoke to Taylor as recently as 10 days ago on the phone.
“As bad as his health was, what he always wanted to talk about was the Whitecaps.”
Whitecaps FC offer our sincerest condolences to Taylor’s friends and family at this time. He will be deeply missed, but never forgotten.
