After a brief encounter with university , at 19 years of age , McRae dropped out and instead began work at the now-defunct '' Ottawa Journal '' as a writer covering the teenage music scene in Ottawa . He later worked at the '' Cornwall Standard-Freeholder '' and then the '' Peterborough Examiner '' as a general assignment reporter . It was during his time at the Cornwall paper in November 1963 when McRae experienced the arguably most-defining and shocking news story of the 20th century : the Assassination of John F. Kennedy : '' " When President Kennedy was assassinated I was eating a B.C. Delicious apple at my desk in the newsroom of the Cornwall Standard-Freeholder . The single teletype machine suddenly began chattering , its bulletin bell ringing , and news editor Paul Cragg ran back to check and shouted : " Oh my God -- Kennedy 's been shot in Dallas ! " I know exactly what I was wearing . I can see , hear , and feel it all as if it happened this morning . Those of us who went through it will never , ever forget where we were and what we were doing around 1 p.m. on Nov. 22 , 1963 . I phoned as many friends and family members as I could , and in the cold rain of that dark , late November afternoon , I walked back to my rooming house , crying . " '' - McRae remembering November 22 , 1963 McRae later worked at the '' Toronto Star '' , where he covered major news events such as the Apollo 11 moon landing and The Beatles playing at Maple Leaf Gardens , the latter of which , he ambushed the " fab four " for an interview as they were leaving the back entrance of the King Edward Hotel in Toronto . No other journalists were around , having all waited at the front of the hotel . With stints writing for '' Maclean 's '' magazine , McRae became the sports editor of the '' Canadian Magazine '' , a Saturday publication that came with the '' Toronto Star '' in the 1970s and early 1980s . It was during this time that McRae wrote some of the most acclaimed sports profiles in journalism , from his piece on retired NHL enforcer Reggie Fleming to former CFL great Hal Patterson , the best of these profiles being made into two sports anthologies , '' The Victors and The Vanquished '' and '' A Requiem for Reggie '' . It was McRae 's penetrating and insightful profiles on the world 's most famous athletes that gave the '' Canadian Magazine '' a wide readership and clout during its hey-day
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
Earl McRae