Harvey Lowe's yo-yo career took off in 1932, after he won the World Yo-Yo Championship in London. (Jason Karman)

Harvey Lowe, the man known widely and affectionately as a yo-yo king, has died at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver at the age of 90.

Lowe was most famously known in the community as an ace yo-yo player. But his prowess with the toy was only part of his legacy. Lowe was also known as a cultural ambassador.

Born the 11th child of Lowe Gee Quai and Ming Yook in 1918, Lowe grew up in Victoria, where his father set up a tailor shop on Government Street in the 1890s.

Lowe said life in such a large family was tough, but things changed dramatically when he turned 13 years old.

Lowe was known to many in the community as a yo-yo king. (Jason Karman)

Given the opportunity to go to London to introduce yo-yos to a new market, Lowe jumped at the chance and took a train across Canada, snapping up several yo-yo championships before eventually flying to Britain.

Lowe’s career continued to flourish, with his professional triumphs culminating in 1932, when he won the World Yo-Yo Championship in London.

"After I win the world championship, the company treated me like a king,” Lowe said in a documentary made last year by Vancouver writer-director Jason Karman.

After returning from Europe, Lowe became Canada’s first Chinese radio host, fronting a program named “Call of China” that explored Chinese-Canadian issues.

It’s a role Lowe said helped new members of the community integrate.

"Even to this day people will say,… ’I remember you when I came through immigration in Vancouver and you helped my family out.' "

Lowe’s daughter Melanie remembers her father as a man who used the yo-yo to bring people together, whether on television or radio.

"Here is a person who embarked on a career that very few people believed in," she said.

Despite health problems and a battle with a brain tumour in his later years, Lowe reflected on his life positively.

“I would feel that I had a better life than average. I’m lucky that way, I guess.”