Bill Westwick

William George Westwick (August 2, 1908 – June 19, 1990) was a Canadian sports journalist. He wrote for the Ottawa Journal from 1926 to 1973, was mentored by Basil O'Meara, then served as the paper's sports editor from 1942 until retirement. Westwick regularly covered ice hockey, Canadian football, and boxing; and had a reputation for not hurting anyone, being accurate, and unquestioned veracity. As the sports editor, he sought for his staff to report the facts first, then develop a personal writing style with time, and mentored his successor Eddie MacCabe. Westwick was the son of Harry "Rat" Westwick, and was inducted into the Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame and the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.

Early life and family William George Westwick was born on August 2, 1908, in Ottawa, Ontario, to parents Harry "Rat" Westwick and Rubina Duval. Westwick had two brothers and two sisters. His father won the Stanley Cup playing for the Ottawa Silver Seven, and won national championships as a lacrosse player. Thomas Westwick was an uncle to Westwick as his father's brother. Tommy Gorman was also an uncle to Westwick, having married Harry Westwick's sister Mary in 1910. Westwick attended Lisgar Collegiate Institute, where he was an amateur boxer and a collegiate champion. He also played football, hockey and lacrosse.

Journalism career Westwick began writing for the Ottawa Journal in 1926, mentored by its sports editor Basil O'Meara, who convinced Westwick to write about sports instead of pursuing a professional hockey playing career. Westwick served a brief time as city editor of the Ottawa Journal, then succeeded O'Meara as the sports editor from 1942 to 1973. He frequently wrote about heavyweight boxing championships, and also reported on the World Series, the Stanley Cup, the Olympic Games, and the British Empire Games. Storey subsequently resigned as a referee. Campbell stated that Westwick took the words out of context, accused him of "breaking confidence" in the article. He retired from the Ottawa Journal on August 29, 1973, and was succeeded by Eddie MacCabe as the sports editor, who had been his assistant since 1952.

Reputation The Canadian Press journalist Stuart Lake described Westwick as an "old school journalist", a two-fingered typist who signed off with -30- to end his copy, that he "could belt back beers with the best of them" until he quit drinking, and that he "had a deep sense of responsibility for what he wrote and went out of his way not to hurt people with the millions of words that flowed from his typewriter". MacCabe also recalled that Westwick may have appeared disorganized, but never missed a deadline. He resided in the Sandy Hill neighbourhood of Ottawa, and had a family cottage on Long Lake near Buckingham, Quebec. He died on June 19, 1990, in Ottawa, and was cremated. and was inducted into the Football Reporters of Canada section of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1984.