When he won the Pulitzer for commentary in 1990, he was only the fourth sports columnist to win a Pulitzer, joining Red Smith, Arthur Daley and Dave Anderson, all New York Times writers. I thought Walter Lippmann got Pulitzers, not us guys. He also won The Associated Press Sports Editors award for best column writing in 1984, and the APSE Red Smith Award for career achievement in sports writing. He and Red Smith were two of the great American writers. He was such a great guy to be with.
Death belongs in musty hospital rooms, sickbeds.
It should not impinge its terrible presence on the celebrations of youth, reap its frightful harvest in fields where cheers ring and bands play and banners wave. His butt was so nonexistent his hip pockets ran together. Gray-blue, they had a piercing quality. They were not the eyes of a loser. It was art.