Frank Deford, sports writer, NPR correspondent, at 78
Award-winning sports writer and commentator Frank Deford has died at 78. His family said he died Sunday in Key West, Florida. Mr. Deford was a six-time Sports Writer of the Year and a member of the National Association of Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame. He wrote with a lyrical elegance and was best known for his work at Sports Illustrated and National Public Radio.
He retired this month from NPR’s “Morning Edition” after 37 years as a contributor.
“Frank was dealing with an audience that doesn’t turn to the sports pages first thing,” said Tom Goldman, an NPR sports correspondent who recently spent time with Mr. Deford in Key West. “And he was proudest of the many comments he got over the years from people saying, ‘I don’t really like sports, but I like what you did, and you made me more interested in it.’”
He was the first sports writer awarded the National Humanities Medal. In 2013, President Barack Obama honored him for “transforming how we think about sports.”
“A dedicated writer and storyteller, Mr. Deford has offered a consistent, compelling voice in print and on radio, reaching beyond scores and statistics to reveal the humanity woven into the games we love,” Obama said at the time.
Mr. Deford called the award the one he is most proud of.
His long profiles, covering all corners of sports, were for years a showcase in Sports Illustrated.
“He could watch the grittiest game and zoom in on the moment that made it important,” said Jim Litke, a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. “Nobody was better at connecting sports to the culture at large. He dressed up every event he attended.”
He also dressed up in a more literal way, always sharply attired and cutting a debonair figure at 6-foot-4 with his shock of dark hair and thin mustache.
Mr. Deford also was a prolific book author, writing several novels, and contributed commentaries to HBO’s “Real Sports” program and hosted documentaries on the cable network.
Among Mr. Deford’s books were “Heart of a Champion,” which chronicles the career of athletes who appeared on Wheaties boxes, and a biography of tennis great Bill Tilden.
His wit always was on display. Among Mr. Deford’s gems: “I believe that professional wrestling is clean and everything else in the world is fixed.”
And he understood why the games have such a hold on so many.
“To see the glory in sport, where somebody comes from behind and does something, sinks a shot in the last second or throws a touchdown pass or hits a home run, there is a beauty in that, and at the end of the day, that’s why we love sports more than anything else.”
Mr. Deford grew up in Baltimore and graduated from Princeton. He joined HBO Sports in 1995 and his first report chronicled life in Augusta, Georgia, outside the Masters. It was called “The American Singapore.”
Mr. Deford is survived by his wife, former model Carol Penner; two children; and two grandchildren.