By JASON TCHIR -- Toronto Sun
Copyright © 2004, CANOE, a division of Netgraphe Inc. All rights reserved.
June 22, 2004

Longtime Toronto Sun writer Jerry Gladman died yesterday. He was diagnosed with ALS in late 2003, and wrote about his struggles in the Sun series "Living and dying with ALS."
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TORONTO -- Nothing got between Jerry Gladman and the story, not even high school. "Jerry was a terror at Vaughan Road Collegiate and they said 'if you promise to never come back we'll give you your Grade 10 diploma," said John Gault, Jerry Gladman's best friend of more than 35 years. "And he ended up teaching at a university. That says a hell of a lot about the guy."

Gladman, 61 -- a longtime Toronto Sun writer, father of three and grandfather of four -- died early yesterday of ALS.

From his start as a 16-year-old copy boy, Gladman thrived as a journalist and later as a journalism teacher because he loved telling stories, Gault said.

"He sounded like a street guy and he wrote in that lovely person-to-person," said Gault, who met Gladman when both worked at the Toronto Telegram in the 1960s and stayed in touch, meeting him for lunch almost every week. "But he had a first-class mind and there was nothing he couldn't do."

STRICKEN IN 2003

Gladman was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis -- a debilitating and fatal neurological disease also known as Lou Gehrig's disease -- in late 2003, about 10 months after symptoms started appearing.

Gladman was awarded the feature writing prize at Sun Media's 2003 Edward Dunlop Awards last week for his four-part series, Living and Dying with ALS.

His son Lee said it was the "last big story" in the 44-year career of a journalist who aspired to be "the guy who didn't just get the facts of the story, but the humanity as well."

Gladman had lifelong passions for boxing (he wrote about it for years) and westerns. And he discovered his love of teaching during the four years he taught at Ryerson before his diagnosis.

"A bunch of people called me and said he would make a wonderful teacher," said Ryerson's John Miller. "He would wow them with all these incredible stories. He brought the perspective of someone who is educated in the university of life."

When he quit teaching because he became unable to speak, "it saddened my students and broke my heart," he wrote in his series.

"Honest to God, I don't think I ever heard a person say the slightest negative thing about him, not even 'Jerry told a fib,' " said boxing champ George Chuvalo, a friend for 40 years. "He was one of the nicest guys you'd ever want to meet."

He leaves wife Norma, children Lee, Jesse and Caitlin, and grandkids Mathew, Jordon, Jamie and Emma.