Frank Deford
Frank Deford died on Sunday, May 28, at his home in Florida. Remembrances of Frank's life and work can be found in All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and on NPR.org.
Writer and commentator Frank Deford was the author of 20 books. His latest, I'd Know That Voice Anywhere, is a collection of his NPR commentaries and was described by Chicago Tribune as "glorious, hitting all the notes from funny to emotional to profound. ... Once again, his words make sports come alive." Booklist calls it a "rich collection for anyone interested in the sporting life."
The collection was culled from Deford's commentaries on NPR's Morning Edition, dating back to 1980.
On television, Deford was a senior correspondent for 20 years on the HBO show Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel. In magazines, he was a senior contributing writer at Sports Illustrated for 32 years and later became senior editor emeritus.
Two of Deford's books — the novel Everybody's All-American and Alex: The Life Of A Child, his memoir about his daughter who died of cystic fibrosis — have been made into movies. Two of his original screenplays, Trading Hearts and Four Minutes, have also been filmed.
President Obama presented Deford with the medal from the 2012 National Endowment for the Humanities. He is the first writer to receive this award primarily for his work in sports.
As a journalist, Deford was elected to the Hall of Fame of the National Association of Sportscasters and Sportswriters. Deford was voted by his peers as U.S. Sportswriter of The Year six times. The American Journalism Review likewise cited him as the nation's finest sportswriter, and twice he was voted Magazine Writer of The Year by the Washington Journalism Review.
Deford had also been presented with the National Magazine Award for profiles, a Christopher Award and journalism Honor Awards from the University of Missouri and Northeastern University, and he received many honorary degrees. The Sporting News once described Deford as "the most influential sports voice among members of the print media," and GQ called him, simply, "the world's greatest sportswriter."
In broadcast, Deford won both an Emmy and a George Foster Peabody Award. ESPN presented a television biography of Deford's life and work, "You Write Better Than You Play." A popular lecturer, Deford spoke at more than a hundred colleges, as well as at forums, at conventions and on cruise ships around the world.
For 16 years, Deford served as national chairman of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and he remains chairman emeritus. Deford was a graduate of Princeton University, where he had taught in American Studies.
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Commentator Frank Deford thinks some of the proposed changes to make professional baseball more exciting won't help.
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The Cowboys have won only two playoff games in the past 20 years, but all of a sudden, they are once again a force again in the NFL, says commentator Frank Deford.
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They invariably never live up to what the politicians and construction moguls promise, says sports commentator Frank Deford. -
This shot has come a far piece since it was adopted by the NBA in 1979, and Stephen Curry's prowess will make it an even bigger part of the game, according to sports commentator Frank Deford. -
It's called "the beautiful game," but sports commentator Frank Deford says that's because of who plays soccer, not because of how it's played. -
Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens should be interrogated by the baseball commissioner the same way Pete Rose has been, opines sports commentator Frank Deford. -
With the NBA's new ad campaign against gun violence, commentator Frank Deford says a bunch of athletes may finally provide the first successful nudge toward stiffer firearm regulation.
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When two teams play a game that doesn't count, call it what it is — an exhibition. Sports commentator Frank Deford reminds us that words, and their meanings, matter. -
Frank Deford wonders why it took so long to build a monument commemorating the 11 Israeli athletes murdered by terrorists at the Munich Summer Olympics 43 years ago.
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Yogi Berra died Tuesday at age 90. The Hall of Fame catcher is part of our culture in ways that other great athletes never manage. To mark his passing, Morning Edition airs this encore from 2005.
