a younger William (Bill) Sanford courtesy of the Toronto Star
Toronto. One thing we in the true north are truly blessed with is the number of quality photographers of all stripes. One such professional was Bill Sandford. Sadly Bill passed away this month (May). He died in London, Ontario at 78 on the 20th.
Bill was one of the gung-ho brand of photographers – the news photographer – ready to go on a moment’s notice; ready to get the special, dramatic shot.
He was a staff photographer for two decades at the Toronto Sun and its predecessor, the Toronto Telegram (remember the “pink” Tely on weekends?).
I well remember the November, 1979 Mississauga train derailment which Bill photographed. One of his photos of that startling event won the National News Paper award (the photo is displayed in the Sun obit).
Bill went on to do assignments for both the Toronto Star, and the Toronto Globe & Mail. Obituaries were recently printed in the Sun and in the Star. Our thanks to PHSC president Clint Hryhorijiw, who knew Bill, for emailing me the details of this loss of Canadian talent (Clint said years ago the two ‘chased ambulances’ together).
