L. H. Gregory

William Lair Hill Gregory (May 18, 1886 – August 15, 1975) was a 20th-century American sportswriter and sports editor for The Oregonian newspaper of Portland, Oregon for more than 50 years. His popular column, "Greg's Gossip," was standard morning reading for several generations of Portland sports fans.

Early life and career Born in Portland to local attorney William M. Gregory and Lenore Sparks Gregory in 1885, Gregory attended the University of Washington before returning to Portland. He began his sportswriting career for the Oregon Journal, and moved to The Oregonian in 1914 when they offered him a $5 a week raise over his $25 a week salary at the Journal.

Sports editor and columnist Gregory (who used "L. H." as his byline and was called "Greg" by colleagues and friends) became sports editor at The Oregonian in 1921. He died in a Portland nursing home on August 15, 1975.

Legacy Gregory's creative sportswriting still affects Oregon sports, as many of the nicknames for Oregon sports personalities and teams that he created and popularized in his columns are still in use, including: Johnny Pesky, the name he created for Portland Beaver star John Paveskovich (prior to his long career with the Boston Red Sox) since his name didn't fit in headlines

Gregory refused to refer to Oregon State teams as the "Beavers" since in his opinion, only the Portland baseball team could be called that name. and the Oregon Newspaper Hall of Fame.