Frank Deford

Frank Deford
Frank Deford speaking at the Bridgeport Public Library in Bridgeport, Connecticut, September 21, 2007
Born
Benjamin Franklin Deford III

(1938-12-16)December 16, 1938
DiedMay 28, 2017(2017-05-28) (aged 78)
EducationPrinceton University
Occupation(s)Sports journalist, novelist
SpouseCarol Penner Deford
Children3
Signature

Benjamin Franklin Deford III[1] (December 16, 1938 – May 28, 2017) was an American sportswriter and novelist. From 1980 until his death in 2017, he was a regular sports commentator on NPR's Morning Edition radio program.

Deford wrote for Sports Illustrated magazine from 1962 until his death in 2017,[2] and was a correspondent for the Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel television program on HBO.[3] He wrote 18 books, nine of them novels. A member of the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame, Deford was six times voted National Sportswriter of the Year by the members of that organization, and was twice voted Magazine Writer of the Year by the Washington Journalism Review.

In 2012, Deford became the first magazine recipient of the Red Smith Award. In 2013, he was awarded the National Humanities Medal, was presented with the William Allen White Citation for "excellence in journalism" by the University of Kansas, and became the first sports journalist ever to receive the National Press Foundation's highest honor, the W.M. Kiplinger Award for Distinguished Contributions to Journalism.

Deford's archives are held by the University of Texas at Austin, where an annual lecture is presented in his name. He was a long-time advocate for research and treatment of cystic fibrosis.

  1. ^ Bunting, Glenn F. (January 11, 2004). "Picking Nits with Frank Deford". Los Angeles Times.
  2. ^ Conway, Tyler. "Former Sports Illustrated Writer Frank Deford Dies at Age 78". Bleacher Report. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
  3. ^ Dwyer, Colin. "Frank Deford, NPR's Longtime Philosopher Of Sports, Dies At 78". NPR. Retrieved May 29, 2017.