Hull obituary a whitewash

The Jan. 31 inclusion of a Canadian Press obituary for Bobby Hull in The Spec was a mistake.

This obituary was a throwback, a calcified journalistic relic from a time when obituaries of sports stars served no other purpose than to polish the halo of the fallen hero. Indisputably, Hull was a real hockey star, legend, record-setter, whatever. However, that was never the whole Bobby Hull story.

It’s not as if The Spec didn’t have other print options to choose from to eulogize Hull. Given the frequency with which we get reprinted Toronto Star articles, why didn’t we get the Bruce Arthur article from the Jan. 30 edition of the Star? It provides a more complete representation of who Hull was. A history of violence against his daughter’s mother and other partners is also our hero’s story. His daughter became a lawyer and represents battered women due to Hull’s treatment of her mother.

Gary Mahoney, Hamilton