Joe Falls' Influence Went Beyond His Columns

Abilene Reporter News ^ | 8-17-04 | Mark Tomasik

[SmithPatterson]

Joe Falls' influence went beyond his columns By MARK TOMASIK August 17, 2004

Joe Falls, a retired sports columnist for The Detroit News, died last week. We didn't know one another, but I'll never forget him. He was a major influence in my life.

When I was a teenager in the early 1970s, it was a pleasure to get The Sporting News in the mail every week. There was no ESPN, no Internet, no USA Today. The Sporting News was the best way to get the inside information on national sports.

It was a magazine that looked and read like a newspaper. Best of all, it had great columnists. Wells Twombly of San Francisco was the most talented. Dick Young of New York was the most influential. Joe Falls was the must-read.

Falls wrote from the perspective of the fan. His style was straightforward. His column appeared on Page 2. Every time I opened The Sporting News, the first thing I'd see was Joe Falls' column.

When I was a sophomore in high school, an English teacher gave us an assignment. He told us to think about a profession we might want to pursue, and write to someone in that profession for advice on how to get started.

At 15, all I knew was that I liked sports, I liked writing and reading, and I liked The Sporting News. I added it all together and decided to write to Joe Falls and seek his advice on how to become a sportswriter.

He wrote back, said he had a lot to tell me, and asked me to call.

When I did, Falls answered. "I'm on deadline," he said. "I'll be done in 45 minutes. Give me your phone number. I'll call you back."

About an hour later, he did. He went on to tell me the most important thing I could do is read. And not just sports stories. He said books about history and politics, any topic at all, had made him a better sports columnist, and how he learned good writing from reading good writers.

Then he asked, "Are you on the staff of your high school newspaper?"

"No."

"Why not?" he said, not too gently.

"Because the editor is a senior and he's kind of a jerk and I don't want to be around him."

"You're going to meet a lot of editors in your career who are jerks," said Joe Falls.

"Don't let that stop you. If you really want to be a sportswriter, go to that newspaper office and ask for a job."

The next day, I asked the high school newspaper editor for a sportswriting job.

I've been in the newspaper business ever since.

Joe Falls was 76 when he died Aug. 11. He spent more than 50 years in sportswriting.

He wrote 12 books, won dozens of awards, and was inducted into the writer's wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.

His greatest achievement, though, was the time and encouragement he gave young people who sought his advice on how to get into journalism. I'm one of many Joe helped.

Every time someone has sought my advice on how to break into the business, I always give it my best attention. That's the legacy of Joe Falls. That's the greatest tribute I can give him.

-Contact Mark Tomasik at mark.tomasik(at)scripps.com.

(Mark Tomasik is the editor of the Treasure Coast newspapers http://www/tcpalm.com.)

[Charles Henrickson]

When I was a teenager in the early 1970s, it was a pleasure to get The Sporting News in the mail every week. . . . At 15, all I knew was that I liked sports, I liked writing and reading, and I liked The Sporting News. I added it all together and decided to write to Joe Falls. . . . He wrote back. . . .

You know, I had almost the exact same experience! I was a teenager (this was in the late '60s), read TSN and Joe Falls' column, and I too decided to write him a letter. And he wrote back! This made a big impression on me, to get a personal letter from a big-deal sportswriter. I always remembered that. Apparently, Mr. Falls was quite a guy.