Floyd S. Chalmers (1899 - 1993) Inducted 1986

Floyd Chalmers arrived in Orillia in 1910, living with his family at 40 Peter Street. Along with his brother, Harold, and his sister, Dorothea, he attended Central School and Orillia Collegiate and there became friends with Leslie and Cecil Frost. He helped augment the family income as a paper boy and delivery boy, delivering handbills for the hockey rink and the Opera House. Part of his payment was in the form of free tickets to the travelling productions, which sparked his interest in music and the arts.

In 1913, he moved to Toronto with his family but he remembers Orillia as the happiest years of his childhood. Perhaps because of those productions he enjoyed at the Opera House, he spent his World War I leaves in London at the theatre, furthering his interest in the arts.

Floyd Chalmers was only 17 when he started as a cub reporter with the Toronto News and Toronto World. Four years later, he joined the Financial Post and for 17 years was the editor of that publication, a job he filled with distinction.

He was president and chairman of the McLean Hunter publishing empire, editor of the Financial Post and a valued advisor to many Canadian statesmen and politicians.

He was a member of the board of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, vice-chairman of the Royal Conservatory of Music, president of the Canadian Opera Company, and president of the Stratford Shakespearean Festival. He and his family created the Chalmers Foundation, which continues to aid young Canadian artists and the performing arts in Canada.

He was truly a man who made a unique contribution to the cultural life of Canada.