It was said at one time that Ed MacDonald had ink in his veins instead of blood.

The Rumford native, and proud of it, was an avid skier and reporter. He combined those passions into a career any journalist would envy.

“Even now, he’s been gone about 15 years, and people still come up to me and say ‘Oh, your father, the reporting he did, not only for skiing but everything else he wrote about,'” said Mary MacDonald, Ed’s daughter.

MacDonald is one of many new inductees of the Maine Ski Hall of Fame. The ninth annual induction ceremonies will be held Friday evening at Lost Valley. Among the other eight inductees are Werner Rothbacher, David Farrah, Chip Crothers, Carla Marcus, Horace Chapman, John Greene and Owen Wells.

The Maine Ski Hall of Fame recognizes Maine skiers who have made an impact on the sport in the state.

“He would feel it was such an honor to be recognized and to be induced,” said Mary MacDonald. “I think it would be a dream come true for him.”

MacDonald was a reporter with the Rumford Falls Times and the Lewiston Daily Sun. He made a lasting impression while covering skiing.

“He was good for the sport, that’s for sure,” said Wendall “Chummy” Broomhall, who hired MacDonald to be the press agent for the Chisholm Ski Club. “He was always involved, and he wrote a lot of good articles on skiing.”

When Broomhall needed someone to handle the press at the 1960 Winter Olympics at Squaw Valley and the 1980 games in Lake Placid, he knew who to ask.

“It didn’t take a lot of convincing, but I asked him to be the chief of the world press, and he accepted the job and did a hell of a job for us,” said Broomhall. “For the 1980 Olympics, I asked him again, and he did the same thing for us in Lake Placid. He did a super job.”

He handled a variety of tasks at the Olympics and relished every moment.

“You name it, he did it and he had about 35 people working under him,” said Broomhall. “All their needs, he made sure they had a good experience in both places.”

MacDonald got his start because he was an avid photographer. He started working for the Rumford paper in the 1950s and soon started a career with the Sun. He was there for 37 years and even wrote a regular column after he had retired.

“He wanted people to know what was going on,” said Mary MacDonald. “He wanted to get it firsthand and he wanted to report the truth. He wanted people to know what was going on. I believe that he did that.”

Skiing was his passion. Broomhall says he used to ski with MacDonald all the time “back in the day.”

It was only natural that some of MacDonald’s best reporting came on the slopes.

“He was such an avid skier,” said Mary MacDonald. “He wanted to make sure people got the right story and the right information. It was an honor for him to be able to report on skiing and be able to be part of the Winter Olympics. He just loved skiing. It was such a passion for him. To be able to write about a passion, was unbelievable.”

She can still recall the delight that would show on his face when he’d talk about his experiences at the Olympics. He cherished the opportunity to meet the athletes, work with new people, experience the ceremonies and all that makes the Olympics a unique experience.

“To look at him and see his excitement when he talked about the experience is beyond words,” she said. “He used to tell me that it was indescribable the feeling that he got being there and being able to report back to Maine about what he was doing. It was just unbelievable.”

He even got to experience the thrilling success of the 1980 Olympic gold medal winning men’s hockey team.

“That was one of the highlights for him,” his daughter said.

It was a job he loved because of what he did and experienced.  He was dedicated to the sport but equally dedicated to his job. To be recognized by the Maine Ski Hall of Fame is an honor that just might have topped it all for MacDonald.

“This honor would have been the highlight of his career,” said Mary MacDonald.

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