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Lenarduzzi pauses for a moment.

“I know when somebody passes everyone says nice things, but I think all the things people are saying about Jim are sincere,” he says.

Photo by Gerry Kahrmann / PROVINCE

Paul Chapman, the deputy editor of this sheet, was a cub reporter in the early ’90s when he was assigned the backup role on the Lions’ beat. He says there were two veterans who went out of their way to help him when he started: Taylor and former Lions play-by-play man J.P. McConnell.

“You get a compliment from someone like that and it gives you wings,” Chapman says.

In late 1998, I was hired to fill the cavernous hole Taylor left at The Province when he decamped to the ill-fated Sports Only magazine. It was like following Springsteen and I was reminded several times by helpful readers I was no Jim Taylor.

Still, it’s funny. Even though he was gone, his spirit remained in this department. There is a certain smart-alecky irreverence that’s at the core of Taylor’s writing and is still one of the defining features of The Province and its sports section. That was the scope of his talent.

I learned a couple of new things about Taylor when I started working on this piece. One was his love of soccer. Another was his disdain for baseball. But, easily, the greatest was his nickname, The Skull, and if you look at his picture, you don’t have to guess about the moniker’s origins.

“Don’t know who gave him that, but he never complained about it,” Jones says.

No, it was a different era. Taylor’s contemporaries included Jones, known as Large, and not because of his sleek silhouette; Jim Proudfoot or Chester; and Jim (Shaky) Hunt. Try hanging those on anyone today. But they were of a kind, these men, great writers and huge personalities, who occupied a revered place in their cities. That time is mostly gone now and we don’t have the time or space to weigh the impact of its passing.

But, in their time it was the place where a community met, shared its stories and, when they were lucky, had a laugh. That was Jim Taylor’s gift to this province and there is nothing more precious than laughter.

Sleep well, my friend.

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