{{Short description|Canadian sports journalist}} {{other people||Red Fisher (disambiguation){{!}}Red Fisher}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}} {{Use Canadian English|date=January 2013}} {{Infobox person |name=Red Fisher |image=Red Fisher.jpg |imagesize= |caption=Fisher in December 2009 |birth_name=Saul Fisher |birth_date={{birth date|df=yes|1926|8|22}} |birth_place=Montreal, Quebec, Canada |death_date={{death date and age|df=yes|2018|1|19|1926|8|22}} |death_place= |occupation=Sports journalist |years_active=1955–2012 |spouse={{marriage|Tillie Fisher|1948|2018|reason=died}} }} '''Saul "Red" Fisher''', {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|CM}} (22 August 1926 – 19 January 2018) was a Canadian sports journalist who wrote about the National Hockey League and the Montreal Canadiens in his newspaper column. Fisher received the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award in 1985.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.legendsofhockey.net/html/leg_writers.htm | accessdate=2006-11-11 | publisher=Hockey Hall of Fame | title=Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award Winners | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071230101939/http://www.legendsofhockey.net/html/leg_writers.htm | archivedate=30 December 2007 }}</ref> He was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1999,<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.jewishsports.net/BioPages/RedFisher.htm | accessdate=2006-11-11 | publisher=International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame | title=Red Fisher (biography) }}</ref> and became a Member of the Order of Canada (CM) in 2017.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/order-of-canada-list-announced-a-guide-to-whos-being-honoured/article37454374/ | work=The Globe and Mail | accessdate=2017-12-30 | title=Order of Canada list announced }}</ref>
==Biography== Fisher was born in Montreal in 1926 and was given the nickname "Red" for the colour of his hair as a young man.<ref>Red's hockey reporting gets the gold; Red Fisher has covered 17 of Habs' Stanley Cup titles. Boone, Mike. Star – Phoenix [Saskatoon, Sask] 28 August 2010: B.4.</ref>
Fisher began his hockey reporting for ''The Montreal Star'' on 17 March 1955, the night of the Richard Riot.<ref name="Obit">{{cite news | url=https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/long-time-montreal-canadiens-reporter-red-fisher-dead-91/ | title=Long-time Montreal Canadiens reporter Red Fisher dead at 91 | date=19 January 2018 | agency=The Canadian Press | publisher=Sportsnet | accessdate=2 May 2019 }}</ref> He remained as writer and sports editor until the ''Star'''s demise in 1979.<ref name="Obit"/> He then joined the ''Montreal Gazette'' as sports editor (for a short time), where his columns continued to appear.<ref name="Mont">{{cite web|url=https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/montreal-gazette-sports-reporter-red-fisher-dies-at-91-1.3767456|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180120124142/https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/montreal-gazette-sports-reporter-red-fisher-dies-at-91-1.3767456|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 January 2018|title=Montreal Gazette sports reporter Red Fisher dies at 91|publisher=Montreal CTV News|accessdate=19 January 2018|date=19 January 2018}}</ref>
He covered the Montreal Canadiens when they won five Stanley Cups in a row in the 1950s, and during their dynasty years in the 1960s and 1970s.<ref name="Atlantic"/> Fisher said Habs legend Dickie Moore was his closest friend.<ref name="HABS">{{Cite web |last=Fisher |first=Red |date=December 20, 2015 |title=Red Fisher: Remembering great friend and Habs legend Dickie Moore, dead at age 84 |url=https://montrealgazette.com/sports/hockey/red-fisher-remembering-great-friend-and-habs-legend-dickie-moore-who-has-died-at-age-84 |access-date=January 25, 2024 |website=Montreal Gazette}}</ref> He was also at the 1972 Summit Series between NHL players and the Soviet national team.<ref name="Mont"/> Fisher was known for his "no-nonsense approach" to his career, such as his refusal to talk to rookies and walk away if a player answered his questions with cliches.<ref name="Mont"/>
Fisher served as president of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association from 1968 to 1970.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thephwa.com/about-the-phwa/|title=About the PHWA|year=2021|website=Professional Hockey Writers' Association|access-date=23 January 2021}}</ref> He was the longest-serving beat writer to cover an NHL team. Over his career, he worked for ten editors and publishers, and won the Canadian National Newspaper Award three times.<ref name="Atlantic">{{cite web |last=Basu |first=Arpon |date=19 January 2018 |title=Red Fisher 1928-2018 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/216923/2018/01/19/red-fisher-1928-2018/ |access-date=19 January 2018 |publisher=The Athletic}}</ref> His retirement was announced by ''Gazette'' publisher Alan Allnutt in a column on 8 June 2012.<ref>{{cite news | first=Alan | last=Allnutt | url=https://montrealgazette.com/Legendary+Fisher+calls+career/6750726/story.html | title=Legendary Fisher Calls it a Career | newspaper=Montreal Gazette | date=8 June 2012}}</ref> He continued to write guest articles for the ''Gazette'' until his death.<ref name="HABS" />
Fisher died at the age of 91 on 19 January 2018.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-01-19 |title=Red Fisher, longtime Canadiens writer, dies at 91 {{!}} NHL.com |url=https://www.nhl.com/news/red-fisher-longtime-montreal-canadiens-writer-dies-at-91-295092904 |access-date=2024-01-25 |website=www.nhl.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Spector |first=Mark |date=19 January 2018 |title=Remembering Red Fisher's unmatched personality and flair |url=http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/remembering-red-fishers-unmatched-personality-flair/ |accessdate=19 January 2018 |publisher=Sportsnet}}</ref> His wife of 69 years, Tillie Fisher, had died ten days earlier.<ref name="Mont"/>
==Books== * {{Cite book | title=Hockey, Heroes and Me | first=Red | last=Fisher | date=15 October 1994 | publisher=McClelland & Stewart | isbn=978-0-7710-3147-2 }}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/columnists/red_fisher.html ''Montreal Gazette'': Red Fisher], accessed 11 November 2006
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fisher, Red}} Category:1926 births Category:2018 deaths Category:Anglophone Quebec people Category:Canadian sportswriters Category:Canadian television sportscasters Category:Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award recipients Category:Jewish Canadian journalists Category:Members of the Order of Canada Category:Montreal Gazette people Category:Montreal Star people Category:Sir George Williams University alumni Category:Writers from Montreal