For more than 45 years in the newspaper business – more than 40 as a sports columnist – George Pasero (April 10, 1917 – March 6, 1997) remained widely respected by his professional colleagues and a beloved friend to so many people who knew him.
A quality commentator is part gatekeeper, part cheerleader and a person of conscience. George Paero was all three in the State of Oregon.
The son of Italian immigrant parents who raised their four sons in St. Helens, Pasero attended Oregon State College in 1935 to study chemical engineering. He came home to St. Helens for a year and went to work for a local paper mill. In 1937 he enrolled at the University of Oregon and upon graduation in 1940, took his first newspaper job as a promotional department trainee for $15 a week. George recalled: “I was high paid.”
Pasero joined the Navy in 1942 during World War II and served for four years. When he returned in 1946 it was either back to the paper mill or back to The Journal. Fortunately for newspaper readers, he chose the latter, eventually becoming Journal sports editor in 1956.
His daily column in the Oregon Journal was called “Pasero Says” and after running more than 25 years up to six times a week, it moved to The Oregonian in 1982 when the two newspapers merged.
During his career, the National Association of Sportswriters and Sportscasters recognized George Pasero seven times as Oregon Sportswriter of the Year. The UO inducted him into its Webfoot Society, which recognizes “the best the University has to offer,” in 1986. In 1992 he received the UO’s Portland Alumni Spotlight Award. The George Pasero Team Award has been a part of the Oregon Sports Awards.