P.E.I.’s late poet Milton Acorn observed, “The Island’s small … every opinion counts.” And when it came to an opinion, few were better at offering one than Gerry (Soupy) Campbell. In a successful and sometimes tumultuous sports career that spanned well over 50 years, Soupy had a lasting impact on curling, softball and golf — as a very good player, but in a much larger role as editor, reporter, columnist, commentator, statistician, promoter and organizer. 

The news that Soupy died suddenly Feb. 8 was a real shocker. We had just chatted some three weeks ago on Haviland street in Charlottetown when he was in his taxi waiting for a fare. 

Soupy looked great, he had a new taxi cab and was looking forward to more camping this summer with his longtime partner Pearl Rice. He always talked about heading over to Europe to golf and sightsee in the Slovakia area where he had recently coached and managed a curling club, but COVID-19 had ruined those plans last year and likely would again this year. 

Gerry (Soupy) Campbell, centre, enjoys a day of golf at The Links at Crowbush Cove with former Guardian staffers Gary MacDougall, left, and Bill McGuire.

I first met Soupy in the Guardian newsroom in the mid-1970s when I was a cub reporter and he was a well-known sports columnist. 

The event which really left an imprint on a young journalist was the storybook ending for Charlottetown curler Bill Jenkins and his 1977 world junior men’s curling championship in Quebec City. Soupy was there of course, filing for the Guardian and doing reports for CFCY radio. He was live on the air as Jenkins won the world title that Sunday afternoon in March. It was a massive accomplishment for P.E.I. curling and for Jenkins and his team — and the headlines were never bigger. It was exciting stuff and Soupy was in the middle of it.

It was in curling that Soupy really made an impact. Looking for new fields to conquer after a successful playing career on P.E.I., he spent a number of years in the Calgary area where he managed curling clubs in winter, softball leagues in summer, and golfed whenever he could. He was in the TSN broadcast booth with Vic Rauter, Ray Turnbull and Linda Moore when that network was on its path to curling coverage dominance — supplying statistics and historical flashbacks for TSN’s on-air personalities.

Soupy later took his curling expertise to Europe where he coached and managed curling clubs, and even landed in a remote area of Turkey where the sport was finding a toehold. It was only recently that he gave up his European career. You couldn’t make this stuff up. No adventure was beyond his imagination or a challenge too great.

Health issues had plagued him for some time. He was taking things very sedately of late, rarely seen in curling clubs or at ball diamonds. But nothing was going to stop him from morning golf — the earlier the better. He departed much too early, leaving behind a sports hall of fame career. He will be missed.

Click to read the full Guest Opinion in The Guardian

Bill McGuire is The Guardian’s former sports editor, news editor and editorial page editor. He lives in Charlottetown.