An era in American sportswriting passed recently with the death of Dave Anderson. A native of Brooklyn, a reporter for The Brooklyn Eagle and The New York Herald Tribune, Anderson achieved fame as a longtime columnist with The New York Times, working with such greats as Arthur Dailey, Joseph Durso, Murray Chass, Roslyn resident Gerald Eskenazi and the immortal Red Smith. Anderson wrote during a Golden Era of New York sportswriting: In addition to his Times colleagues, there was Phil Pepe, Red Foley, Bill Vernigan and the equally-immortal Dick Young at The Daily News; Jerry Izenberg, Hugh Delano, Maury Allen and Henry Hecht at The New York Post and Joe Donnelly, Steve Jacobson, Joe Gergen and Roslyn resident Stan Isaacs at Newsday.
He also authored over 20 books. From that canon, we recommend Frank: The First Year, his co-authorship of a book on Frank Robinson’s first year as a big league manager and Sports Of Our Times, a 1979 collection. Anderson wrote effortlessly on all sports, even though he clearly favored professional football. His favorites included both the quiet Henry Aaron and the boisterous Muhammad Ali. Anderson was also an avid golfer. As luck would have it, Anderson was once in a foursome with Jack Nicklaus. During the round, Anderson managed to nail a solid tee shot. “Nice swing,” the great Nicklaus remarked. “Put it on my tombstone,” Anderson gleefully wrote. An honor well-earned.
The mortal man is gone, but the books remain. All you need is a library card or an account at Amazon.
