GERALD DONALDSON

David Gerald Craig Donaldson, 87 passed away on December 14, 2025 in Toronto at St Mikes hospital after a brief illness. He was born in Almonte, Ontario on July 18, 1938 to David Alexander Donaldson and Mary Enid Donaldson (ne Purdon). He is survived by his wife Diane Fine , his stepsons Jeremy Fine, David Fine (Marianne) Elza and Chloe, and Noah Fine (Rosalie) Ava and Hannah, and his brother Gordon Donaldson (Esther); nephews Shawn (Kari) and Michael (Lisa) Mae and Cole. Gerald began life in a small town with humble beginnings. He left town before finishing high school to pursue a life of adventure across Canada. After years of menial work he became aspirational seeking the romantic life of the artist. He graduated from OCAD discovering he had little talent as an artist but was a natural writer. He began writing anthologies and then combined his interest in Formula I by pursuing a career as the only Canadian FI journalist reporting and commentating from the races. Not only did he write regular columns for the Globe and Mail, The Star, and many other publications, but by the end of his career he had written over twenty books, four of which were seminal publications such as his biographies of James Hunt, Gilles Villeneuve and Juan Manuel Fangio. For 40 years he led a peripatetic life following the races from country to country every two weeks, while using England as his base. He became an inveterate Anglophile and loved life in his beloved Cotswolds. He was inducted onto the FI Paddock Hall of Fame in 2018 and the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame in 2020. His @f1speedwriter.com twitter blog was widely followed. A recent quote from the British writer Richard Williams stated, 'Gerry observed, absorbed and turned what he saw into gold- whether in his copy or conversation'. He will be missed by many.