Lester B. Pearson

Lester Bowles Pearson
(Mike)

• School University of Toronto, Oxford University

• Born April 23, 1897 in Newtonbrook, ON CAN
• Died December 27, 1972 in Ottawa, ON, CAN

Biographical Information

Pearson speaking at a United Nations event in 1945

Lester B. "Mike" Pearson was a Canadian statesman, diplomat and politician. He served as the fourteenth Prime Minister of Canada from April 22, 1963 to April 20, 1968. He was also a Nobel Laureate in 1957.

During his tenure as Prime Minister, his minority governments introduced several important laws in Canada that brought universal health care, student loans, the Canada Pension Plan and the Order of Canada to the population. His government also introduced the current Canadian flag.

Pearson was the son of a Methodist minister, the second of three boys. His father would organize hockey and baseball games for the local boys in his parish. An avid athlete, Mike played several sports in his youth, including football, baseball, cricket, lacrosse and hockey. While attending the University of Toronto in 1914, he played baseball, basketball, lacrosse and hockey. He earned the nickname "Herr Zigzag" while playing with Oxford University's hockey team after a 27-0 win win over Cambridge. He attended graduate school at Oxford from 1921-1923.

He served with the British Royal Flying Corps in World War I, and earned the nickname "Mike" during the war by a flying instructor "who discarded «Lester» as being insufficiently bellicose".

Pearson also played semi-pro baseball with the Guelph Maple Leafs of the Intercounty Baseball League during his early 20s as a means of making extra money in the summer. He was a third baseman for the team.

He would remain an avid sports fan throughout his life. When he was Prime Minister, he asked his staff to install a television in his office so that he could follow the World Series.

The Pearson Cup was named in his honor. It was awarded to the winner of an inter-league series between the Montreal Expos and Toronto Blue Jays for a few seasons after the Jays were created. He also has an award in the NHL named after him that is awarded to the league's MVP as voted by the players.

Pearson was named to the University of Toronto Sports Hall of Fame in 1987.

He died from cancer at age 75 and is buried in the Gatineau Hills, in Quebec just north of Ottawa, ON.

Pearson was an honorary inaugural member of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame when it formed in 1983.

In his habits, he is well known for his punctuality; in his attire, for his bow tie; in his personality, for his friendliness, as outwardly expressed in his grin; and in his relaxation, for his fondness for baseball. taken from his bio at the United Nations website, where he was President of the General Assembly.

Sources include

• Biography at the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame
• CBC biography
• United Nations website/bio
• Government of Canada biography
• University of Toronto website
• Nobel Prize website

As quoted above:

Further Reading

• Stephen Dame: "First Base Among Equals: Prime Ministers and Canada's National Game", in Baseball Research Journal, SABR, Vol. 49, Nr. 1 (Spring 2020), pp. 57-61.
• Stephen Dame: "Lester B. Pearson: Canada's Ballplayer Prime Minister", in Baseball Research Journal, SABR, Vol. 49, Nr. 1 (Spring 2020), pp. 62-68.