Bill Walker (2002)

The late Bill Walker was one of Victoria's best Ioved sportswriters during his lengthy career at the Times and Times Colonist. His tenure at the Victoria newspapers spanned 36 years from 1946 to 1983 with 22 of those years spent as a sportswriter covering the local scene. Gentlemanly and decent both as a person and writer, Bill had an eye for detail and his stories resonated with homespun charm and were always entertaining and thorough. From 1946 to 1956, Bill covered the great Victoria Dominoes basketball dynasty, minor pro baseball at RAP and Victoria sporting legends such as Lester Patrick. Bill was Times sports editor from 1951 to 1956, covering events such as the Miracle Mile at the 1954 Commonwealth Games, the Juan de Fuca Strait swim craze and Cougars hockey and Shamrocks lacrosse games. He was elevated to the position of news editor for the Times in 1956 and returned to the sports department in 1969 where he continued to cover sports both for the Times, and the merged Times Colonist, until his retirement in 1983. He was a co-recipient of the 2002 Sid Thomas Award for Sports Media.