Tribute planned for Saint John speedskater
Historian found Charles Gorman buried in an unmarked grave
Last Updated: Thursday, March 18, 2010 | 8:15 PM AT
CBC News
A Saint John historian is leading a fundraising campaign to give Charles Gorman, the late world champion speedskater, a proper tombstone.
Harold Wright went looking for Gorman's grave recently and found it was lying unmarked in Old Cedar Hill Cemetery.
"I was flabbergasted," the historian said. "I couldn't believe that this community has allowed him to be here since 1940 in an unmarked grave."
The legendary athlete is remembered everywhere in Saint John. His named is attached to a city street, a local arena and there is a memorial statue of him in a local park.
Harold Wright has started a fundraising campaign to erect a proper grave marker for Charles Gorman, a former world champion speedskater from Saint John. (CBC)He was so popular in the southern New Brunswick city that when he died thousands of people lined its streets to pay their respects to the athlete thought to be New Brunswick's first Olympian. The world champion speedskater, who thrilled sports fans in Saint John in the 1920s, died in the 1940s.
Wright shared his discovery with Liberal MLA Roly McIntyre, who promptly pledged $100 toward making a proper marker. That donation got the ball rolling, but Wright said about $4,000 would be needed to make something memorable.
Saint John's Babe Ruth
Brian Flood, a local sports history author, has also donated $100 to the project.
Flood, who wrote Saint John: A sporting tradition, said crowds of up to 25,000 people crammed around Lily Lake to see Gorman skate his way to the world championship in the 1920s.
"He was the, like, Babe Ruth and he had a big, big personality," Flood said.
He said it would be fitting for the final tombstone to touch on Gorman's legacy, so people remember the impact the speedskater had on the community.
"His name, some imagery, maybe an image of him in his speedskating pose," Gorman said. "He was known as the human dynamo, the man with the million-dollar legs."
With $1,000 raised so far, Wright said he is confident it won't be long before a lasting tribute is created.
