Posted on 05/29/2017 2:15:14 PM PDT by EveningStar
Frank Deford, the charismatic sports writer widely regarded as one of the best of his generation who also presided over the ambitious and short-lived The National, one of the biggest busts in the annals of the newspaper industry, has died. He was 78.
Deford, who began his career at Sports Illustrated in 1962 and remained with the magazine for decades, died Sunday in Key West, Fla., his wife told The Washington Post.
A prolific and widely admired novelist as well, Deford wrote the 1981 book Everybody's All-American, about the downfall of a 1950s University of North Carolina star. It was made into the 1988 film directed by Taylor Hackford that starred Dennis Quaid and Jessica Lange.
Deford's passion, knowledge of sports and knack for storytelling led the Baltimore native to opportunities beyond the page. HBO brought him in to serve as a senior correspondent for Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel, and for 37 years through this month, he served as a regular commentator for NPR's Morning Edition. He won an Emmy Award and a Peabody.
(Excerpt) Read more at hollywoodreporter.com ...
Sorry to hear that. He remembers Johnny Unitas’ first exhibition games. RIP
RIP
RIP.
Frank Deford, Piss Ant of Sports Journalism
“he served as a regular commentator for NPR’s Morning Edition”
No home training or had home training & just decided to be a pig?
I remember reading his book, “Alex, A Life of a Child” many years ago. It was a well written book. Not much was known about CF back then.
Never heard of him other that a 10 minute non-news time kill on the evening news.... been noticing a lot of these 10 minute non-news time kills lately. 10-15 minutes anti-Trump, 5 minutes for rest of news, 10 minutes non-news time kill, and then 5 minutes of “Inspiring America” of crap that local stations would normally use for filler. Any news about the rest of the world .... think not.
Not much into sports (though I was a champion athlete in one...)
But loved to listen to Deford. He was amazing.
Rest in Peace, Frank.
DeFord was a lefty, politically correct “sports” writer.
The fact that he was on NPR for decades tells what he was.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.