Standard-bearer from the heyday of sports writing
Older Wellingtonians might have felt a twinge of nostalgia in the past week or so with the death at the age of 79 of Robert Charles (Bob) Fox, a prominent sports journalist of the 1960 and 70s.
For Fox was one of the last surviving standard-bearers of the Evening Post’s Saturday night’s sports edition, the Sports Post.
Published about 6pm, it and its corresponding publications in other parts of New Zealand, such as the Auckland Star’s 8 O’Clock, were institutions especially in the 1950s and 1960s when there were no transistor radios, limited television and, of course, no mobile phones or internet.
In cities and towns there were queues outside dairies anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Sports Post and its equivalents, so that readers could learn the day’s sports and racing results.
To meet the exacting deadlines, journalists like Fox had to be on a phone to the office as soon as a game had finished, or in the case of cricket while the contest was still being played, with their reports of the match, sometimes having to talk off the top of their heads.
This was an exacting task and the skill involved was not always appreciated, particularly by those with a superficial knowledge of journalism. Mistakes were inevitable because of the rushed processes, and some of the gaffes became folklore. One Sports Post report read, ‘‘Colin Meads was making cream cakes in the lineouts’’, after a copy-taker misheard the words ‘‘clean takes’’ from an out-oftown reporter. Often, too, vowels in words such as ‘‘shot’’ were misprinted, causing much mirth.
Bob Fox was one of the best in meeting deadlines, with an invariably sensible, cogent account of even the most important match or test.
After attending Hutt Valley High School, Fox joined the Post in 1962 and within a few years became the chief offsider to the colourful Gabe David, specialising not only in rugby but in cricket and golf as well. In both the latter two sports he was an accomplished player, though a childhood illness curtailed any rugby ambitions.
This writer was a contemporary of Bob and in the 1960s and 70s had an equivalent role on the Post’s morning opposition, The Dominion. Just as he was David’s understudy, so was I to Alex Veysey.
As such we shared a rivalry, albeit one that was always healthy and friendly. When one beat the other to a story, there was always a mutual respect and generous acknowledgement.
Often for out-of-town assignments we travelled together and stayed in the same accommodation. We became sports editors of our respective papers at much the same time and made our first All Blacks overseas tours together on the 1974 tour of Australia. That, too, was the first overseas All Blacks tour for two others who later achieved distinction, journalist Ron Palenski and TV commentator Keith Quinn.
That year, 1974, was especially memorable for Fox. Before touring with the All Blacks he had led the Post’s comprehensive coverage of the Christchurch Commonwealth Games and a few weeks later had been at Lancaster Park in the same city for New Zealand’s first cricket test win over Australia. Happily for Fox, Ken Wadsworth’s winning shot for four came comfortably within the Post’s deadline.
Fox and I also played cricket together, opening the batting in occasional Sunday games. Once we shared a stand of 100, with my staid 30 or so being junior to the 70 or so he contributed with lustier blows.
One major sporting occasion we did not share was what was probably the highlight of his journalistic career. On the Sunday night of New Zealand’s 1975 cricket test against England at Eden Park, New Zealand, many runs in arrears, had only one wicket left so the following day’s play seemed a formality.
So this writer, mindful of his paper’s tight budget, chose to fly back to Wellington that night. Fox, on the other hand, elected to stay and thus was on hand when an England bouncer all but ended the life of New Zealand’s last batsman, Ewen Chatfield.
The mishap occurred well within the Post’s deadline so Fox, as an on-the-spot witness of one of New Zealand sport’s most dramatic episodes, filled almost all of the Post’s front page that day.
In 1976 I became his deputy at the Post, having an amicable working relationship. It was a momentous year for New Zealand sport, which came under an uncomfortable international spotlight because of the All Blacks’ tour of South Africa causing an African boycott of Montreal’s Olympic Games. Both were given major coverage by the Post, with Fox directing that of the Games while I oversaw the rugby tour and other sporting events.
Always with an upfront personality, and as a former president of the New Zealand Journalists’ Association, then the profession’s union, Fox soon after moved into managerial and executive positions within the Independent Newspapers Ltd group. He was editor in 1981-85 of the New Zealand Times, one of several Sunday titles that eventually became the Sunday Star-Times.
In later years he worked as a freelance in public relations and as a media consultant. But he continued to take an interest in sports journalism as a leading member of the NZ Sports Journalists’ Association, and one of the key organisers of its annual golf tournament at Wairakei.
He became a life member of that body and in 2018 received a Sport New Zealand life-time achievement award.
He is survived by his wife Pam and sons Andrew, Tim, Nick and their families. He was pre-deceased by his first wife, Viv.
‘‘Fox was one of the best ... with an invariably sensible, cogent account ...’’