Obituary of Alison Gordon

GORDON, Alison Alison Ruth Gordon died in Toronto on Thursday, February, 12, 2015 after a brief illness, at the age of 72. Alison was born in 1943 in New York City. She attended schools in Irvington, N.Y., Tokyo, Cairo and Rome (her father, J. King Gordon, was traveling the globe for the United Nations at the time). Alison came to Canada in 1960 to attend Queen's University. Alison's professional life was rich and varied. She was active in the peace movement in the 1960s and played a key role in support of Pierre Trudeau's run for the Liberal leadership in 1968. She worked for the CBC in various roles, including a producer at As It Happens and a news anchor in Halifax. Alison came from a writing family. Her paternal grandfather was a best-selling Canadian novelist under the pen name of Ralph Connor. Her maternal grandfather, Isaac Anderson, reviewed mystery novels for the New York Times. Her mother, Ruth Gordon, worked in publishing as an editor and her father was at one time managing editor of The Nation magazine. Her older brother, Charles, became a newspaper columnist. But Alison's writing career didn't begin in earnest until her mid-30s when, as a freelance writer, she earned a National Magazine Award for humour writing in 1978. She joined the Toronto Star in 1979 to cover the Toronto Blue Jays, the first woman beat writer. Her first season was difficult, her efforts to gain access to locker rooms often attracting more attention than the games she was covering. But she prevailed and won a National Newspaper Award citation for sportswriting in 1979. As a baseball writer, Alison demonstrated an effortless style, an appreciation for the human side of the game, as well as a biting wit. She covered the Blue Jays for five years and published a memoir about that period, Foul Balls, published in 1984. Her time with baseball also provided the raw material for a series of five mystery novels whose central character was Kate Henry, a baseball reporter who found herself solving murders. Prairie Hardball, the last in the series, was published in 1997. Throughout her life Alison cherished her many friends, and because she was so magnetic a personality, she couldn't help making more. She was a devoted fan of the Blue Jays, and of the city of Toronto, especially her beloved Danforth neighbourhood where she lived for over three decades. She adored summers at Birkencraig, the Gordon family island on Lake of the Woods. She was a crossword puzzle solver, enthusiastic joke-teller and formidable online Scrabble player. In later years, Alison developed an interest in opera and birding and took many trips. She was active with the writers' organization PEN Canada, was a board member of Peggy Baker Dance Projects, and unofficial den mother and tambourinist with the rock group Three Chord Johnny. She particularly cherished her time with her great nephew Desmond Chan-Gordon. She is also survived by her older brother Charles Gordon (Nancy) of Ottawa, nephew, John Gordon (Cynthia Chan), niece Mary Gordon (Christopher Rands) of Ottawa and their children Charley and Catherine Rands, and the extended Gordon clan. In memory of Alison donations could be made to the Toronto Community Foundation. A celebration of Alison's life will be held on Friday, February 20 at the ARTS AND LETTERS CLUB of Toronto, 14 Elm Street at 4:00 p.m. Condolences and memories may be forwarded through www.humphreymilesnewbigging.com