28 Facts About Gordon Sinclair

Allan Gordon Sinclair, OC, FRGS was a Canadian journalist, writer, and commentator.

Early in 1922, Gordon Sinclair applied for a reporting job at all four Toronto newspapers.

Gordon Sinclair was given routine assignments at the Star for seven years before he received his first byline.

Gordon Sinclair's breakthrough was a series of articles written after living among a group of homeless people, whom Sinclair called "Toronto's hobo club" From that point, he rose to become one of the paper's star reporters, spending most of the next decade travelling the world, filing reports from exotic locations.

Gordon Sinclair's experiences on that trip were collected in a second book, Cannibal Quest, which was a best-seller in Canada and reached No 9 in the US Then came a series from Devil's Island, which was turned into a book, Loose Among the Devils, published in 1935.

Later that year, Gordon Sinclair was fired by the Star after failing to get the story on the outbreak of the Second Italo-Abyssinian War in Ethiopia.

Doubts were frequently raised by readers that Gordon Sinclair had actually experienced the incidents he reported.

Gordon Sinclair remained at home during the Second World War and was not accredited as a war correspondent.

Gordon Sinclair ended up writing the story as well as reading it on the air, and continued to contribute brief reports to the station.

Gordon Sinclair would continue to be associated with CFRB for over 40 years until his death.

Gordon Sinclair returned to the Star in 1949, this time as a freelancer, for one final international tour, which included his coverage of the end of the Berlin Blockade.

Gordon Sinclair remained a contributor to the paper, writing a radio and TV column, until December 1962.

In 1957, Gordon Sinclair began a career in television, as a panelist on the CBC Television series Front Page Challenge.

Gordon Sinclair would hold that position for 27 years until his death.

Gordon Sinclair was a vocal opponent of water fluoridation, the singing of "God Save the Queen", medicare and taxes.

Gordon Sinclair had invested his earnings in the Depression-era stock market and was independently wealthy by the end of the Second World War.

Gordon Sinclair bought a Rolls-Royce in 1961 and drove it for 11 years.

Sinclair's autobiography, Will the Real Gordon Sinclair Please Stand Up was published in 1966, followed in 1975 by a sequel, Will Gordon Sinclair Please Sit Down.

On June 5,1973, following news that the American Red Cross had run out of money as a result of aid efforts for recent natural disasters, Gordon Sinclair recorded what would become his most famous radio editorial, "The Americans".

At the time, Gordon Sinclair considered the piece to be nothing more than one of his usual items.

Gordon Sinclair told the Star in November 1973 that he had received 8,000 letters about his commentary.

Gordon Sinclair was said to be annoyed by MacGregor's recording, which was released as a single before Gordon Sinclair's authorized version.

In Canada, Gordon Sinclair's version peaked at No 30, topping McGregor's, which missed the top 40, stalling at No 42.

In May 1974, Gordon Sinclair told The Globe and Mail that he was "sick of hearing" the recording and embarrassed by some of the inaccuracies it contained, but that he would still write the same editorial over again.

Gordon Sinclair was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1979, and added to the Etobicoke Hall of Fame in 1984.

Gordon Sinclair died two days later at age 83 after life support systems were discontinued.

Gordon Sinclair was buried at Park Lawn Cemetery in Toronto.

Gordon Sinclair's eldest son, Gord Gordon Sinclair, was a successful and respected radio journalist in Montreal, as well as the majority owner of CFOX.