Writer was lyrical voice about humanity in sports
FRANK DEFORD /
Frank Deford, the awardwinning sportswriter and commentator whose elegant reportage was a staple for years in Sports Illustrated and on HBO and National Public Radio, has died. He was 78.
He died Sunday in Key West, Florida, his family said Monday.
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 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. “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 sportswriter awarded the National Humanities Medal. In 2013, President Barack Obama honored him for “transforming how we think about sports.”
Deford called the award the one he was most proud of.
“Nobody was better at connecting sports to the culture at large,” said Jim Litke, a sports columnist for The Associated Press. “He dressed up every event he attended.”
He also dressed up in a literal way, always sharply attired and cutting a debonair figure at 6-foot-4 with his shock of dark hair and thin mustache.
Deford wrote many books, including “Heart of a Champion,” which chronicles the career of athletes who appeared on Wheaties boxes, and a biography of tennis great Bill Tilden.
Deford, who grew up in Baltimore and graduated from Princeton, also was editor-in-chief of The National, the nation’s first sports daily that was founded in 1990 and folded the following year. He joined HBO Sports in 1995.
Deford is survived by his wife, the former model Carol Penner; two children; and two grandchildren.