The Waterbury Democrat., 1946-12-12
This Sporting World
Damon Is Dead
Ry JOHN A. cLUNEY

Alfred Damon Runyon is dead, che victim of physical complication which came during the later years of e life crowded with newspaper ae. Nvity Yet, for a guy, to use his fAvorite literary expreSsion) that came from a small town in Kansas Co become a legendary figure Of the world that has Co do with printers ink, he had been around, Many, many times I have seen him at the ringside ot championship fights in New York, quiet but efficient, who had 60 much "on the ball" that he came from nowhere to become c truly great figure in the world of Journalism. Have you ever read the Damon Runyon Omnibus cols lection of shNrt stories in the O Henry pattern, and yet distinctly apart, 60 much 50 that they provid. cd relaxation and entertainment of q type that was rare, and exhilarat. ane Co a superlative degree9 His guys" and dolls" and experiences along the roaring. Forties" as de. picted in his book, was a royal treat Co anyone who ever had the faintest smell of printers ink; something that stayed with you forever and a day. There was Mindy's (Lindy's Restaurant), Hot Horse Heroie, the Seldom Seen Kid, Madame La Giqlp.. Broadway Rose, and e thousand and one characters, all living human beings of the Prohibition Era, when Runyon was as close to Broadway as the street signs between Sixth and Seventh avenues,
 My first closeup of him was
 made possible by the late Murray
 Levin, boxing writer for the New
 York Mirror, the introduction tak-
 ing place directly In front of
 Uncle Mike Jacobs ticket salon on
 4oth street; the Jacobs Beach" of
 the sports pages today.
 had c press" ticket for the
 Baer and Camera title bout an the
 S6th row, just chip shot this side
 of Yorkville. Runyon, a close friend
 and admireT Of Waterbury'S Dan
 Parker, asked me: "did they take
 care ow you7" So I replied: yes, ;n
 the 36tA row" Without another
 word, he reached into pocket and
 came out with SECOND ROW
 working press ticket, Issued to him,
 which he insisted l take in e2-
 change for the "Shaeker' had
 been given. Seeing his name on the
 ticket. I said: why, this is your
 own ticket, Mir Runyon; where
 will you sit fl take this?" but he
 had a quick answer, to wit: don't worry about me, I'll see you at the f1ngside adding, T know how it is, for I come from a small town my self" Like Parker. he never forgot the small town newSpapernan, and was ever ready to help him. Sure enough. he was around the corner of the ring from me that evening, and answered my thanks, Mir. R,inyon" with a big smile and wave of the hand.
 His autographed book is one Of my most treasured possessions. Removal of his larynx two years ago, did not keep him secluded. He got around with the aid of a scratch pad; and we exchanged notes one night at a Garden fight. Hundreds of thousands of dollars of motion picture money did not change his reaction toward newspapermen one iota. Runyon was truly c great guy" in the sports world; the guy who wrote the classic line: There was never a handler guy than Sande, bootin' those babies in" His Broadway lingo was tabbed RunyoneSe. which is quite a tribute to a writer who had as much on a typewriter as Rube Waddell had on e baseball.
 Damon is dead--his very small shoes will hardly be filled--at least not in our time, for he made the grade from Manhattan, Kansas, to Manhattan, New York is a manner that will hardly ever be forgotten.