gordon anderson

i won’t pretend i grew up inspired by columnists, writers like steve simmons, damien cox and mary ormsby at the star or cathal kelly at the globe, and that is what led me here.

not a chance. journalism was a happy accident.

more on that later.

i won creative writing contests during high school, but i was never led in the writing direction, and i wasn't smart enough to see it. i just wanted to play baseball. chalk up a minus for me and the ontario public school system. i went through high school without scheduling an appointment with my guidance counsellor.

i could blather on about education, and the writing experiences through college, university and the years working in the business, but my head was turned after many wayward years, a resume writing class sponsored by the city of toronto in 2006. i handed my limited resume to a counsellor, and she asked me why ‘i wasn’t a journalist.’ i didn’t have an answer. i wish i could give her the proper kudos she deserves for turning my life around for the positive.

a few days later, i applied to the journalism program at centennial college. after one year in the program, i entered the sports journalism program, as that is where my true love was residing at the time. thanks to instructors malcolm kelly and shi davidi for their tough love in the process.

and minus a couple of lengthy starts and stops, defined by circumstance and not time, here we are a decade-plus later.

i haven’t won any awards for feature, sports or breaking news writing, probably never will, but my resume is thorough and stained by time and experience.

i graduated from centennial college in ‘10. my first job was sports editor at the lloydminster booster in alberta two years later. in between, i slung burgers at the a&w eatons centre food court, worked as a sports freelancer writer, and night watchman at camp manitou in mckellar, ont.

‘deep in the heart of the north.’

with the toronto sun, i am a multi-media general assignment reporter.

experience

lloydminster booster

calgary sun

lloydminster source

grande prairie daily-herald tribune

sault star

winnipeg sun

education

sports journalism, online and print, centennial college, danforth/pape campus