Page 5 of 45 FirstFirst ... 3456715 ... LastLast
Results 101 to 125 of 1125

Thread: Meet The Sports Writers

  1. #101
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Mt. View, CA, above San Jose
    Posts
    17,752
    Blog Entries
    1
    George Montgomery Young

    Born: September 24, 1872, Philadelphia, PA
    Died: April 20, 1948, Philadelphia, PA, age 75,---d. at home.

    Philadelphia sports writer;
    Philadelphia Evening Item, police reporter, 1895 - 1900
    Philadelphia Times, sports editor, 1900 - 1902
    Philadelphia Public Ledger, sports writer, 1902 - 1919
    Managed publicity for BR Keith's Theater (Philadelphia), 1914 - 1928,
    Managed Garden Pier and Garden Theatre and Globe Theatre (Atlantic City), as Keith's representative.
    Managed Adelphi Theatre for the Shuberts (Philadelphia), 1928 - 1933
    Managed Woods Theatre for the Shuberts (Chicago), 1928 - 1933
    Managed Alvin Theatre for the Shuberts (Pittsburgh), 1928 - 1933
    Philadelphia Booking Agency, PR office, 1933 - 1943
    Philadelphia Corn Exchange National Bank & Trust Company, 1943 - ?

    Father: George W.; Mother: Keturah;

    Philadelphia Inquirer obituary-----------New York Times' obituary
    April 22, 1948, pp. 13.--------------------April 22, 1948, pp. 27.

    ------------------------------------Sporting News' obituary, April 28, 1948, pp. 32, column 5.
    Last edited by Bill Burgess; 01-29-2013 at 03:13 PM.

  2. #102
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Mt. View, CA, above San Jose
    Posts
    17,752
    Blog Entries
    1
    John Raymond Murphy, Jr.---AKA Jack Murphy

    Born: February 5, 1923, Denver, CO
    Died: September 24, 1980, Poway, CA, age 57,---d. at home after 3 month fight against cancer.

    San Diego sports writer;
    World (before & after WWII)
    Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
    Tulsa, OK newspaper
    Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City),
    San Diego Union, sports writer, 1950 - 1980
    also free-lanced for New York Times Magazine, New Yorker, Newsweek, and others.

    Jack Murphy was a sports editor and columnist for the San Diego Union newspaper from 1951-1980 and the brother of New York Mets broadcaster Bob Murphy. He was a key figure in bringing the San Diego Chargers football team of the American Football League south from Los Angeles, landing the Padres baseball team as a National League expansion team in 1969, and lobbying for a new San Diego stadium. The 54,000-seat San Diego Stadium was renamed San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium or simply Jack Murphy Stadium. It was also known by its shortened name "The Murph". The stadium was renamed Qualcomm Stadium in 1997 and Qualcomm will retain naming rights until 2017.

    Won awards for columns on golf and horseracing, winner of National Headliner Award. He wrote pieces for Sports Illustrated, Collier’s, Venture Magazine, The Saturday Evening Post, Golf Digest, and The New York Times. Inducted May 3, 1988 to the National Sportscasters and sports writers Association and Hall of Fame.


    Los Angeles Times' obituary, September 25, 1980, pp. SD_B1.----------------------------------Sporting News' obituary, October 11, 1980, pp. 70.
    Last edited by Bill Burgess; 10-26-2010 at 04:17 PM.

  3. #103
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Mt. View, CA, above San Jose
    Posts
    17,752
    Blog Entries
    1
    -------------
    Last edited by Bill Burgess; 03-28-2010 at 09:31 AM.

  4. #104
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Mt. View, CA, above San Jose
    Posts
    17,752
    Blog Entries
    1
    Joseph F. McHenry

    Born: September 19, 1914, Massachusetts
    Died: April 1, 1975, Providence, RI, age 60

    Providence, RI sports writer;
    Graduated Providence College, 1936
    Providence Star-Tribune, 1936 - ?
    Providence Journal-Bulletin (RI), sports writer, 1946 - 1975
    Was a correspondent for Sporting News.

    Father: James William McHenry, born October 20, 1891, Boston, MA, died Providence, June, 1970; Mother Isabel, born Massachusetts around 1892;

    JOSEPH F. MCHENRY, long-time Providence Journal-Bulletin sportswriter, covered URI sports for more than 30 years during a distinguished 39-year career. He was a magna cum laude graduate of Providence College, where he played baseball and football, and was very active in numerous professional and civic organizations. His support aided Rhode Island immeasurably in its rise to fame in athletics.

    Hartford Courant obituary, April 3, 1975, pp. 64.--------------------------------------Sporting News' obituary, April 19, 1975, pp. 54.
    Last edited by Bill Burgess; 01-29-2013 at 03:21 PM.

  5. #105
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Mt. View, CA, above San Jose
    Posts
    17,752
    Blog Entries
    1
    Charles Ambrose Hughes

    Born: May 18, 1881, Grand Ledge, MI
    Died: January 29, 1953, Detroit, MI, age 71

    Chicago / Detroit sports writer;
    Detroit Tribune, 1902 - ?
    Chicago Inter-Ocean,
    Chicago Record-Herald, September, 1908 - ?
    Detroit News,
    In July 21, 1909, lived in Chicago, IL, and was an advertiser. (passport information)
    Detroit Athletic Club, secretary, 1912 - 1953, death.
    Editor / owner Detroit Athletic Club News.
    Was active in founding the Boy Scouts of America.
    5'8 1/2, blue eyes.

    Sporting News' Obituary, February 11, 1953, pp. 28, col. 3.


    Detroit Free Press' Obituary


    Paul Gallico/Charles Hughes

    Last edited by Bill Burgess; 11-07-2010 at 07:56 AM.

  6. #106
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Mt. View, CA, above San Jose
    Posts
    17,752
    Blog Entries
    1
    Thomas Holmes---AKA Tommy Holmes

    Born: November 5, 1903, Brooklyn, NY
    Died: March 25, 1975, Brooklyn, NY, age 71

    Brooklyn/New York sports writer;
    Brooklyn, NY, 6-year old, (April, 1910 census)
    Brooklyn, NY, newspaper writer, (April 20, 1930 census)
    Brooklyn, newspaper writer, (April 6, 1940 census)
    Brooklyn Eagle, October, 1926, - 1956, mostly covered the Dodgers,
    New York Herald-Tribune, 1956 - 1966, mostly covered the Dodgers, until they left town for Los Angeles, CA.

    Father: Thomas, born New York around 1858; Mother: Elizabeth, born New York, around 1875; Wife: Grace, born Michigan around 1905;

    Authored:
    The Dodgers, 1975.
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Tommy Holmes and Bob Broeg were the recipients of the 1979 J.G. Taylor Spink Award.

    Red Smith described Holmes as "the best baseball writer of his time, possibly of all time." As evidenced in his bright and sprightly writing style, Holmes' personality was sensitive but unassuming, honest yet unpretentious, witty and intelligent.

    A thorough student of the game, Holmes covered the Brooklyn Dodgers for the Brooklyn Eagle and for the New York Herald-Tribune from 1924 until the club's move to Los Angeles. He was an acutely perceptive and observant writer who employed a direct and simple style.

    Holmes, a splendid historian, authored a pair of books on the Dodgers as well as Baseball's Best with Tom Meany.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sporting News' Obituary,
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------April 12, 1975, pp. 62, column 3-4.




    March 4, 1959: New York sports writers in St. Petersburg, FL.
    Top Row, L-R: Stan Isaacs, Dan Daniel, Tommy Holmes, Bill Dougerty, Len Schecter, Jim Ogle.

    Bottom Row, L-R: John Drebinger, Jack Lang, Casey Stengel, Joe Trimble, Ken Smith, Til Ferdenzi.
    Last edited by Bill Burgess; 01-30-2013 at 05:04 PM.

  7. #107
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Mt. View, CA, above San Jose
    Posts
    17,752
    Blog Entries
    1
    William James Granger

    Born: February 9, 1877, Brooklyn, NY
    Died: January 17, 1945, Kew Gardens, NY, age 67

    Brooklyn sports editor;
    The Brooklyn Eagle composing room, 1892 - 1897
    Worked for father in commercial work,
    New York Morning Journal,
    Brooklyn Citizen sports editor, 1903 - 1945
    He began to write baseball around 1900.

    GetImage4.pdf: Sporting News' 1939 Interview

    Bill Granger (Sports editor. Born, Brooklyn, Feb. 9, 1877; died, Kew Gardens, Queens, Jan. 17, 1945.) As a callow youth, he spent much of his time supporting himself as a bowling hustler, but William J. Granger wound up as sports editor of the Brooklyn Citizen for more than half of the paper’s 61-year existence. Granger worked for the Brooklyn Eagle for two years (1900-02), doing mostly non-editorial work while pursuing his bowling avocation. In early 1902, he was hired by Major Wheeler, the Citizen’s sports editor, as the paper’s bowling editor. This move not only saved Granger’s victims money but attracted his fellow keglers as readers. Granger succeeded Wheeler as sports editor in 1907, promptly improved the Citizen’s baseball coverage, and was one of the six original organizers of the B.B.W.A.A. in 1908. He added baseball writer Clinton Hoard to the staff and began to expand coverage of other sports. Granger was chairman of the Brooklyn B.B.W.A.A. chapter three times (1922-23, 1933-34, 1942-43). The Citizen closed on Aug. 29, 1947. (The Bill Shannon Biographical Dictionary of New York Sports is an open database of sports biographies maintained by Jordan Sprechman and Marty Appel.)

    Sporting News' article, June 12, 1941, pp. 6, column 2-5.
    'Four Kings' Who Ruled as Rival Sports Editors,
    Founded Royal Regime of Loyal Dodger Fandom

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------Sporting News' obituary, January 25, 1945, pp. 17, column 4.

    New York Times' obituary, January 18, 1945, pp. 19.
    Last edited by Bill Burgess; 12-11-2012 at 08:31 PM.

  8. #108
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Mt. View, CA, above San Jose
    Posts
    17,752
    Blog Entries
    1
    Thomas Stevens Rice

    Born: February 21, 1878, Baltimore, MD
    Died: February 4, 1942, Brooklyn, NY, age 63,

    Baltimore / Washington / Brooklyn sports writer:
    Baltimore Sun, 1899 - 1903
    Washington Times, 1903- 1910
    Brooklyn Daily Eagle, May 29, 1911 - 1929

    Left baseball to devote himself to crime & general law.
    Graduated Baltimore City College (1897), University of Maryland law school (1899),
    Admitted Maryland bar 1899, Member of New York State Crime Commission (1926-31).

    Thomas S. Rice (Sportswriter. Born, Baltimore, Md., Feb. 21, 1878; died, Brooklyn, Feb. 14, 1942.) Perhaps uniquely among sportswriters of his time, Thomas S. Rice was a practicing lawyer who spent 18 years (1911-29) with the Brooklyn Eagle. Rice, who often signed his copy with only his last name, covered the Dodgers his last 13 years at the Eagle and then was appointed to the New York State Crime Commission. He graduated Baltimore City College in 1897, studied the law, and was admitted to the bar in Maryland in 1899. Shortly thereafter, Rice joined the Baltimore Sun, moved to the original Washington Times in 1903, and the Eagle eight years later. In addition to several studies on criminology, he also published the famous “Rice Notations,” a study of lefthandedness that was also applied to some criminal cases. (The Bill Shannon Biographical Dictionary of New York Sports is an open database of sports biographies maintained by Jordan Sprechman and Marty Appel.)

    New York Herald-Tribune------------------------------------------------------New York Times' Obituary
    Obituary, February 15, 1942--------------------------------------------------February 15, 1942, pp. 44.------------------------Who Was Who in America, Volume 2

    Last edited by Bill Burgess; 11-12-2011 at 12:14 AM.

  9. #109
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Mt. View, CA, above San Jose
    Posts
    17,752
    Blog Entries
    1
    Stephen Orlando Grauley---AKA Sog---an abreviation from the initials of his name.

    Born: August 5, 1878, Philadelphia, PA
    Died: December 6, 1958, Philadelphia, PA, age 80

    Philadelphia sports writer;
    Philadelphia Inquirer sports writer, 1898 - 1925, sports editor, 1925 - 1958
    In Philadelphia sports, he served as player, official, club owner & reporter.
    Close personal friend of Connie Mack.

    Sporting News' article, May 18, 1939, pp. 6.


    Sporting News' Obituary, December 17, 1958, pp. 22, column 4.

    Last edited by Bill Burgess; 08-05-2012 at 10:21 AM.

  10. #110
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Mt. View, CA, above San Jose
    Posts
    17,752
    Blog Entries
    1
    Charles Willis Dunkley

    Born: September 26, 1887, Kalamazoo, MI
    Died: February 6, 1957, Williams Bay, WI, age 69,---d. heart attack

    Chicago sports writer:
    Kalamazoo Gazette, 1906
    South Bend Tribune (IN)
    Chicago Inter-Ocean, 1909
    Chicago Examiner,
    Associated Press, (Chicago office), 1911 - 1916, Midwest sports editor, 1916 - September, 1952
    Baseball was his favorite, but he also loved track & boxing.

    Chicago Tribune obituary, February 7, 1957.---------------------------------------------------------October 10, 1952: L-R: George Halas, Charles Dunkley, Chuck Comiskey.
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Dunkley retired from AP after 41 years in Chicago testimonial dinner.


    Sporting News' obituary, February 13, 1957, pp. 32, col. 4.
    Last edited by Bill Burgess; 07-27-2012 at 01:41 PM.

  11. #111
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Mt. View, CA, above San Jose
    Posts
    17,752
    Blog Entries
    1
    Willis Eldon Johnson

    Born: May 21, 1881, St. Louis, MO
    Died: April 23, 1958, St. Louis, MO, age 77,---d. heart disease. Myocardial infarction, due to coronary thrombosis.

    St. Louis sports writer;
    St. Louis University, Worked in bank 4 years
    St. Louis Republic, sports editor, 1901 - 1908
    St. Louis Globe-Democrat, 1908 - 1914
    St. Louis Terriers' (Federal League team), traveling secretary, spring, 1914 - December, 1915
    St. Louis Browns', traveling secretary, December, 1915 - November 14, 1936.

    Father: Joseph; Mother: Lillian Kelly; Wife Mina Batchelder; Willis married Mina in 1903. Son: Willis Eldon, Jr.

    Sporting News' obituary-------------------------------Who's Who in Major League Baseball,
    April 23, 1958, pp. 40, column 1-2---------------------edited by Harold (Speed) Johnson, 1933, pp. 42-43.

    -------Missouri Death Certificate.
    Last edited by Bill Burgess; 08-05-2012 at 10:56 AM.

  12. #112
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Mt. View, CA, above San Jose
    Posts
    17,752
    Blog Entries
    1
    ----------
    Last edited by Bill Burgess; 01-18-2009 at 02:36 PM.

  13. #113
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Mt. View, CA, above San Jose
    Posts
    17,752
    Blog Entries
    1
    Stuart M. Bell

    Born: December 1, 1888, Whitehall, Michigan
    Died: October 9, 1970, Vista, CA, age 81

    Cleveland sports writer;
    Detroit Free Press, 1911
    Toledo Blade,
    Dayton,
    Ann Arbor,
    Cleveland Leader copy reader, 1913
    Started weekly sports magazine, failed, Firestone Tire advertising department, Cleveland department store advertising man,
    Adverting for Akron, Ohio company, (June 5, 1917 WWI Civilian Draft Registration)
    Cleveland Plain Dealer, 1918? - 1925?
    Cleveland Press, sports writer, 1930 - 1936?
    Los Angeles Times, sports writer, 1944
    Retired by 1956.

    Father: Joseph; Mother: Jeanette McDonald; Wife Pauline Orient, born Cleveland, OH; Stuart married Pauline on June 26, 1915.

    -------------------------------------------------------Stuart's photo/entry in Who's Who in Major League Baseball,---Sporting News' obituary, October 31, 1970, pp. 54.
    ----------------------------------------------------------------edited by Harold (Speed) Johnson, 1933, pp. 506.
    Last edited by Bill Burgess; 01-30-2013 at 05:11 PM.

  14. #114
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Mt. View, CA, above San Jose
    Posts
    17,752
    Blog Entries
    1
    ----------
    Last edited by Bill Burgess; 01-18-2009 at 02:39 PM.

  15. #115
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Mt. View, CA, above San Jose
    Posts
    17,752
    Blog Entries
    1
    Glen Leeper Wallar

    Born: October 4, 1881, Lancaster, IL
    Died: January 27, 1955, St. Louis, MO, age 73---d. at home of cancer.

    St. Louis sports writer / sports editor;
    Graduated Southern Collegiate Institute (Albion, IL), 1902,
    Worked business office / circulation dept. of St. Louis Globe -Democrat, 1902 - 1908. Then to sports staff, 1908 - 1918.
    St. Louis Republic, 1918 - 1919.
    St. Louis Globe-Democrat, 1919 - 1933, sports editor since 1924.
    Was ill in 1933, returned to work as chief sports make-up editor, 1933 - 1950. Retired in 1950.
    Also worked for Federal League Baseball team.

    Father: Fayett K.; Mother: Martha M. Leeper; Wife: May;

    GetImage.pdf Sporting News' Interview.

    ---------------------------------Sporting News' obituary,
    ---------------------------------February 2, 1955, pp. 26, column 4.

    -----------------------------Who's Who in Major League Baseball, edited by Harold (Speed) Johnson, 1933, pp. 500.


    -------------------------------Missouri Death Certificate.
    Last edited by Bill Burgess; 12-08-2011 at 01:29 PM.

  16. #116
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Mt. View, CA, above San Jose
    Posts
    17,752
    Blog Entries
    1
    John Butt Keller---AKA Jack Keller

    Born: June 24, 1886, Laurel, MD
    Died: March 22, 1968, Silver Spring, MD, age 81

    Washington DC sports writer;
    Graduated George Washington University (Washington, DC),
    Washington Herald, 1911
    Greensboro Daily News (N.Carolina), 1914
    Raleigh News (NC)
    Raleigh Observer (NC)
    Washington Times
    Washington Post
    WWI, (artillery sergeant), 1917 - 1919
    Washington Post reporter, September, 1918.
    Washington Evening Star, 1920, retired in 1952 as sports copy editor.

    Who's Who in Major League Baseball, edited by Harold (Speed) Johnson, 1933, pp. 492.
    Last edited by Bill Burgess; 01-30-2013 at 05:12 PM.

  17. #117
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Mt. View, CA, above San Jose
    Posts
    17,752
    Blog Entries
    1
    ----------
    Last edited by Bill Burgess; 01-18-2009 at 03:33 PM.

  18. #118
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Mt. View, CA, above San Jose
    Posts
    17,752
    Blog Entries
    1
    James McClure Gould

    Born: April 9, 1883, Albany, NY
    Died: February 15, 1943, St. Louis, MO, age 59,---d. heart attack at home, coronary Occlusion. Buried: Calvary Catholic Cemetery, St. Louis, MO

    St. Louis sports writer;
    Newark Star (NJ) sports writer, 1909 - 1919
    St. Louis Star baseball editor / sports editor, 1919 - 1928
    St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer, 1929 - 1943), football expert.

    Father: Charles, born New York; Mother: Janet, born New York; Wife: Ann Stuart

    Who's Who in Major League Baseball,------------------------------Sporting News' Obituary,-----------New York Times' Obituary,
    edited by Harold (Speed) Johnson, 1933, pp. 492.-------------February 19, 1943, pp. 7, column 4.----February 17, 1943, pp. 21.


    --------------------------------Missouri Death Certificate.
    Last edited by Bill Burgess; 12-08-2011 at 01:39 PM.

  19. #119
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Mt. View, CA, above San Jose
    Posts
    17,752
    Blog Entries
    1
    Frederick Bushnell Ryder---AKA Jack Ryder

    Born: November 16, 1871, Oberlin, OH
    Died: June 5, 1936, Avondale, OH, age 65

    Cincinnati sports writer;
    Graduated Phillips Academy (Andover, MA), 1889.
    Williams College (Williamstown, MA), 1892.
    Taught school in Columbus, OH, until 1898.
    Private in Spanish-American War.
    Ohio State Journal (reporter, sports editor, columnist.)
    Arrived Cincinnati, July, 1904.
    Cincinnati Commercial-Tribune columnist, July, 1904.
    Cincinnati Enquirer sports editor, December 1, 1904 - 1936.
    6'2, blue eyes.

    One of his biggest regrets was he couldn't fight for the US in WWI. In 1905, Jack replaced Charles Webb Murphy on the Cincinnati Enquirer as sports writer and served there for more than 30 years.

    New York Times' obituary, June 6, 1936, pp. 17.


    Sporting News' obituary, June 11, 1936, pp. 2.------------------------------------------Who's Who in Major League Baseball,
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------edited by Harold (Speed) Johnson, 1933, pp. 493.

    Last edited by Bill Burgess; 08-05-2012 at 11:36 AM.

  20. #120
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Mt. View, CA, above San Jose
    Posts
    17,752
    Blog Entries
    1
    Julian Richards Vidmer---AKA Richards Vidmer

    Born: October 7, 1898, Washington, DC
    Died: July 23, 1978, Murray, KY, age 79

    New York sports writer;
    Washington Herald, 1923 - 1924
    Washington Daily News, 1924 - 1925
    New York Times, 1925 - 1931
    New York Morning Telegraph
    New York Herald-Tribune, 1932
    New York Herald-Tribune (in England, 1945 - ?)
    Enlisted for WWII, February, 1942, wounded by sniper in hand, June, 1944.
    Retired by 1956.

    Richards Vidmer elevated the craft of sportswriting with the simple approach of amusing and entertaining his readers. His colorful prose enhanced the story but never overstated the message he was attempting to convey. Vidmer never took himself, or sports, too seriously. In the twenty years he reported sports he maintained a crisp, innovative approach, endowing almost every story he wrote with a fresh angle.

    Richards Vidmer was born on October 7, 1898 in Washington, D.C. He was the second child of George Vidmer and Carol Richards Vidmer. George Vidmer was a captain of cavalry in the United States Army at the time of Richards's birth. A poised career officer, George reached the rank of general and served as superintendent of West Point. Richards grew up on horseback and played polo. This familiarity with horses later enhanced his sportswriting when he reported on polo matches for The New York Times. Reared in the nomadic style of the military, Vidmer did not suffer from a parochial outlook on life.

    Before he reached his teens he had lived in Washington, D.C., Cuba, Japan, West Point, the Philippines, and Texas. As a result, he brought polish and worldliness to his later work as a sportswriter. Star athletes did not impress him as much as they did some of his peers. In 1917 Vidmer graduated from St. Luke's School in Wayne, Pennsylvania. Although he had been accepted at West Point as the United States entered World War I, Vidmer was eager to join the War effort. He passed on West Point and enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps, eventually earning his wings as a pursuit pilot. To his disappointment, however, he never experienced combat overseas.

    While attempting to land on a field in Hicksville, Long Island, following a routine training flight, his plane collided with another aircraft in an overcast sky. Of the four people aboard the two aircraft, Vidmer was the lone survivor. Nine months of surgery and rehabilitation in Walter Reed Hospital followed.

    After his release from the Air Corps, Vidmer enrolled at George Washington University. He had recovered from his wartime injuries sufficiently enough to play football and baseball in college. While still in high school he had played professional baseball in El Paso, Texas, but in order to protect his eventual college eligibility he had played under the name of "Widmeyer." Vidmer's experience as an athlete prepared him to report sports with insight. He knew that an errant bounce of the ball or a momentary lapse of concentration endowed even the greatest with feet of clay. He never hesitated to criticize a ballplayer for doing something foolish or irresponsible.

    In June 1921 a casual meeting on a street in Washington initiated Vidmer's newspaper career. Just out of George Washington University, he met the managing editor of the Washington Herald, who offered Vidmer a job at $25 a week. He did general assignment work and on occasion wrote a feature story. His first feature was about the fiftieth anniversary of the Chicago fire.

    In June 1922 Vidmer married Miriam Miller in Washington, D.C. They had three children: two sons and a daughter. It was the first of three marriages for Vidmer. When Vidmer's managing editor at the Herald left to join the Washington Daily News in 1922, he took along Vidmer as sports editor. At the same time, Vidmer was the football coach at St. John's College, a military prep school in Washington. Knowledgeable of sports but unsure what an editor did, he accepted the position at the Daily News, covering the Washington Senators as well as football and boxing.

    While in New York in 1924 to cover a heavyweight bout Vidmer visited the offices of The New York Times and spoke with managing editor Carr Van Anda, who introduced Vidmer to sports editor Bernard Thomson. Two weeks later Thomson offered Vidmer a job. Vidmer, unsure of his ability to compete in the New York market, hesitated to accept the offer. He recalled to Jerome Holtzman, the Chicago Tribune writer, that he asked his friend Washington Senators pitcher Walter Johnson for advice. Johnson encouraged him to take the job, saying that it had always been his dream to pitch in New York.

    Vidmer reveled in the "gee whiz" style that dominated sportswriting in the 1920s, with its "jargon, florid phraseology and mixed figures," as Stanley Woodward characterized it in his Sports Page (1949). Vidmer preferred to begin his stories with an angle. A story he wrote for The New York Times while covering the 1925 World Series between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Washington Senators, for example, leads by focusing on a former Pittsburgh player now relegated to obscurity: "Just after noon a big broad merchant emerged from his little shop on Wood Street.
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Richards Vidmer (Sportswriter. Born, Fort Riley, KS, Oct. 7, 1898; died, Calloway, KY, July 23, 1978.) As much an athlete as a sportswriter, Richards Vidmer was more of an unorthodox character than anything. Son of a U.S. Army cavalry officer, Vidmer was headed to West Point from St. Luke’s School in Wayne, Penna., in 1917, but joined the U.S. Army Flying Corps instead and served in World War I. He then became a football and baseball player at George Washington U. and, in 1922, a football coach. Vidmer began his sportswriting career in Washington, D.C., with Hearst’s Herald, spent two years as sports editor of the Daily News there, and, in 1926, came to New York, joining The Times’s sports staff. In 1932, he moved to the Herald Tribune after a brief stint on The Morning Telegraph. Vidmer wrote a column entitled Down in Front at the Herald Tribune and was a jack-of-all-trades writer, covering boxing, football, crew, polo, tennis, golf, baseball, and track and field. He enlisted in the Army in 1942, was shipped to England with the Eighth Air Force, eventually wound up in intelligence, served on Gen. Eisenhower’s staff, and, in 1944, was wounded by a Nazi sniper in France. Following the end of World War II, he married the daughter of the Rajah of Sarawak, was a golf pro in Barbados, and, for a time, a foreign correspondent in Europe for the Herald Tribune. (The Bill Shannon Biographical Dictionary of New York Sports is an open database of sports biographies maintained by Jordan Sprechman and Marty Appel.)

    Who's Who in Major League Baseball, edited by Harold (Speed) Johnson, 1933, pp. 493.----------------------------------------------Sporting News' obituary, August 19, 1978, pp. 53, column 3.
    Last edited by Bill Burgess; 01-30-2013 at 05:14 PM.

  21. #121
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Mt. View, CA, above San Jose
    Posts
    17,752
    Blog Entries
    1
    Gerald Curtin Sylvester

    Born: December 7, 1909, Brooklyn, NY
    Died: May 7, 1977, Randallstown, MD, age 67, d. cancer

    New York sports writer;
    Graduated Amherst College (Amherst, MA), (A.B.), 1930.
    New York Evening Post until at least 1941, when he joined the army.
    retired from sports writing, 1939
    Brothers Harold/William, Sister Margaret, wife Teresa.


    Who's Who in Major League Baseball, edited by Harold (Speed) Johnson, 1933, pp. 493.
    Last edited by Bill Burgess; 07-12-2010 at 07:51 PM.

  22. #122
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Mt. View, CA, above San Jose
    Posts
    17,752
    Blog Entries
    1
    Walter Francis Hudson---AKA Gunboat Hudson

    Born: Janaury 30, 1898, New York City, NY
    Died: November 22, 1933, New York City, NY, age 35

    New York sports writer;
    New York Evening Journal, office boy, proofreader,
    New York Globe, reporter,
    New York Mail,
    Bronx Home News,
    New York Evening Graphic,
    Miami Tab,
    New York Daily Mirror, sports writer

    Sporting News' death writeup---------------------New York Times' Obituary
    November 30, 1933, pp. 1, column 4---------------November 24, 1933, pp. 21.

    -----------------------------------------------Who's Who in Major League Baseball, edited by Harold (Speed) Johnson, 1933, pp. 493.

    Sporting News' obituary, November 30, 1933, pp. 5, column 1.-----1927: Gunboat Hudson interviewing Rogers Hornsby at the New York Giants' training camp.

    Sporting News' death write-up, December 7, 1933, pp. 3, column 7.
    Last edited by Bill Burgess; 05-20-2010 at 05:37 PM.

  23. #123
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Mt. View, CA, above San Jose
    Posts
    17,752
    Blog Entries
    1
    Richard Farrington---AKA Dick Farrington

    Born: June 25, 1891, Minneapolis, MN
    Died: February 13, 1953, St. Louis, MO, age 59,---d. brain hemorrhage at DePaul Hospital (St. Louis, MO); Buried: Calvary Catholic Cemetery, St. Louis, MO

    Minneapolis Journal, sports writer, 1910
    Minneapolis Tribune, night sports editor, 1911 - 1912
    Indianapolis Star, 1913 - 1915
    Detroit Free Press, news reporter, 1916 - 1917
    Detroit Journal, reporter;
    WWI, 1918
    Toledo Times telegraph editor, (OH) (1919) city editor, 1920
    St. Louis Times, managing editor, 1921 - 1923
    St. Louis Post-Dispatch, feature editor, 1924
    Sporting News, editor, 1924 - 1928
    New York Herald-Tribune, news makeup man, 1928 - 1930
    St. Louis Times, sports editor, 1930 - 1932
    Sporting News', associate editor - column "Fanning with Farrington", 1932 - 1943
    St. Louis Post-Dispatch, sports writer, 1943 - 1953.

    Father: Edward; Mother: Catherine Roth; Wife: Phyllis;

    --------New York Times' obituary----------Sporting News' obituary
    --------February 14, 1953, pp. 17.---------February 25, 1953, pp. 30, column 1.
    ----------Who's Who in Major League Baseball, edited by Harold (Speed) Johnson, 1933, pp. 494.


    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Missouri Death Certificate.


    August 31, 1939: L-R: George Trautman, Lou McKenna, Dick Farrington, George Higgins.
    Last edited by Bill Burgess; 01-30-2013 at 05:15 PM.

  24. #124
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Mt. View, CA, above San Jose
    Posts
    17,752
    Blog Entries
    1
    Davis James Francis Walsh

    Born: April 11, 1892, Philadelphia, PA
    Died: August 23, 1966, Wilmington, DE, age 74

    Indianapolis / Philadelphia / Pittsburgh sports writer;
    Philadelphia Inquirer, 1917
    Philadelphia Record, sports editor, January, 1939
    New York Graphic
    New York Post
    Los Angeles Examiner, September, 1939
    Chicago Herald-American, May, 1943 - September, 1952
    International News Sevice, 1922 - 1930; 1932 - September, 1939; March, 1943 - November, 1948
    Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, sports editor, September, 1952 - 1960
    His column of note was "To Whom It May Concern".
    An authority on Track & Field, golf, boxing, baseball, collegiate and pro FB, covered their main events.

    Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Obituary, August 26, 1966-----Sporting News' Obituary,
    ------------------------------------------------------September 10, 1966, pp. 38, column 3.


    --------------------------Who's Who in Major League Baseball, edited by Harold (Speed) Johnson, 1933, pp. 494.


    Davis Walsh, #9.
    Last edited by Bill Burgess; 10-27-2011 at 11:28 AM.

  25. #125
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Mt. View, CA, above San Jose
    Posts
    17,752
    Blog Entries
    1
    Augustine Joseph Rooney---AKA Gus Rooney

    Born: January 8, 1892, South Boston, MA
    Died: December 21, 1978, East Sandwich, MA, age 86

    Boston sports writer;
    Harvard College (Cambridge, MA),
    Boston Evening Herald, 1906 - ?
    Boston Herald,
    Boston American,
    Boston Red Sox, office staff, 1911
    Fitchburg, New England League club secretary, 1913
    Boston Traveler, (at least by 1917 - 1938, sports editor, 1926
    Suffolk Downs race track, 1938 - 1940
    General Services Administration, (Fed. Government), 1940 - 1962, as PR man
    Boston Traveler, sports writer, 1917.

    Boston Globe Obituary, December 23, 1978

    Who's Who in Major League Baseball, edited by Harold (Speed) Johnson, 1933, pp. 494.
    Last edited by Bill Burgess; 07-12-2010 at 07:52 PM.

Page 5 of 45 FirstFirst ... 3456715 ... LastLast

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •