Lou Marsh

Who was Lou Marsh?

Lewis Edwin "Lou" Marsh was a Canadian athlete and referee, and one of the pioneers of sports journalism in Canada, working at the Toronto Star for 43 years.

Marsh was born in Campbellford, Ontario and lived there until the age of nine, when he moved with his family to Toronto. At 14, in the first year after the launch of the Toronto Star, Marsh walked into the newspaper's office responding to a want ad and was hired as a copyboy. He rose to junior reporter, reporter, columnist, assistant sports editor under W. A. Hewitt, and finally, in 1931, sports editor. He held that position until his death in 1936.

As an athlete, Marsh's first love was sailing, and through his life he played a wide variety of sports. At the age of 21 he became interested in rugby, and played with some of the top teams in Toronto, including the Toronto Argonauts.

Marsh was said to be a top-notch sprinter, once defeating Canadian and Olympic champion Robert Kerr in a 120-yard hurdle race. He became a supporter of Tom Longboat and accompanied him to the 1908 Summer Olympics in London.

In May 1914, Marsh was aboard the first passenger airplane flight out of Toronto, taking off from Toronto and flying to Hamilton, Ontario and back. Around this time, he is said to have swum across the Niagara River from Lewiston, New York to Queenston, Ontario.