WANTED: Bilingual leader to build bridges with Quebec's French community, boost morale and circulation at Montreal daily and major English institution. No journalism experience required, but proven business savvy a must. Charm a definite asset.

If Larry Smith, BCL'76, didn't reply to such an ad before taking control of The Gazette as its president and publisher last January -- he was recruited through a headhunting firm -- he certainly fits all the exacting criteria.

	Larry Smith in front of the Montreal Gazette building.

The 51-year-old civil law graduate has a well-earned reputation for both business acumen and athletic prowess. He's had multiple careers in sales, marketing and human resources. He's been a professional football player. And he's been commissioner of the Canadian Football League.

"Having Larry Smith associated with a company brings a certain cachet and seal of approval," says Leonard Asper, CEO and president of CanWest Global Communications, the Canadian media giant which owns The Gazette, 13 other metropolitan dailies, the National Post and 126 community papers. "He's the complete executive: he's got terrific credibility; he cares about his community; he's a risk-taker; and he's helped every company he's worked with to grow."

Smith's most recent and celebrated achievement was his resurrection of the Montreal Alouettes. As the team's president and CEO from 1997 to 2001, he relentlessly built up its fan base. The Alouettes, or "Als" among intimates, started with a season ticket base of only 2,800 in 1997. By 2001, the team's season ticket holders had mushroomed to 17,000. What's more, 2,000 folks are on a waiting list to obtain season tickets this year.

Momentum for the team keeps growing, thanks to good marketing and good games. Not to mention the team's 1998 move from the impersonal Olympic Stadium to the more congenial Percival Molson Stadium on the McGill University campus, a move which Smith oversaw.

To think that in 1996 the team was a mess, a debt-ridden U.S. franchise known then as the Baltimore Stallions, before its transfer back to Montreal as the Alouettes.

"If Larry Smith puts in the same ardour at the helm at The Gazette that he did running the Alouettes, the paper will come out a big winner," says Serge Savard, a Smith pal and former Montreal Canadiens defenceman and general manager (1983 to 1995).

Ron Perowne Jr., BA'76, who's known Smith for nearly 35 years and affectionately calls him "Smithie," also predicts that his friend will have a great publishing career. "Just as the Alouettes became Quebec's football team under Smithie," Perowne says, "The Gazette will be seen as more than a Montreal paper. He's going to make it Quebec's paper and, in some ways, Canada's too."

Smith's own forecast concerning his fate at The Gazette is more measured. Months after starting his new job, we're sitting in his sun-drenched fifth-floor office, where he explains his move from successful sports administrator to media manager.

"I needed a new challenge," he says simply. "I am someone who likes taking risks."