Dave Anderson retiring

fleishman · Sep 15, 2007

I went to a talk on the Brooklyn Dodgers that he was part of and it was interesting to learn he was the last person to leave Ebbets Field.

wickedwritah · Sep 15, 2007

I am sad, because I wish I could've met him during my time in this business.

C'est la vie.

henryhenry · Sep 15, 2007

jgmacg said:

One of the great gentlemen of this ungentlemanly profession, Mr. Anderson is also a living link to its grander past.

After World War II, when the soldiers and sailors and pilots were on their way home, so were the war correspondents. One of them, W.C. Heinz, of the New York Sun, shipped back to the Sun offices the battered black Remington typewriter on which he'd filed his dispatches from London and Paris and Berlin. That typewriter had been with him on an anti-submarine aircraft carrier in the North Atlantic, and for the entirety of the Allied push across Europe - from the landings on D-Day to the hedgerows of St. Lo, to the race across the Lowlands and the battle of the Huertgen Forest. He covered the Battle of the Bulge with that typewriter, and the pursuit and prosecution of Nazi spies and war criminals.

Once home, he would use that same typewriter to become one of the best sportswriters of his, or any, time - and to this day, in 2007, that typewriter rests on his desk as a reminder of what a world can be made of words.

The copy boy who checked W.C. Heinz's typewriter back into the mail room of the New York Sun on the afternoon it arrived from Germany?

Dave Anderson.
Click to expand...

best anecdote ever on this board.

dave is truly a class act -and a good golfer.

shockey · Sep 15, 2007

an honor to be able to tell my children that dave has been a long-time friend. his sage advice to me as a young jets beat writer: "when i covered the team, li earned quickly: 'when in doubt, write namath.'''

what a perfect way to convey that some figures can't be wriiten about too often.

what a gentleman. i've done my best to learn from dave to never big-time a young writer who's eager to listen. i hope i've lived up to his example.

hit 'em straight, dave. ;D ;D ;D

Elliotte Friedman · Sep 15, 2007

Didn't have a ton of experience with Mr. Anderson, but there is one story I remember well:

During one of the New Jersey Devils' Stanley Cup runs, he showed up at Continental Airlines Arena for a practice. I knew him by name and reputation, but not at all personally. When he walked in, it was as if royalty had arrived. Everybody was respectful. All called him "Mr. Anderson." But he was totally unaffected by it.

I just watched him as he chatted with people. There was absolutely no pretension to the guy whatsoever. It was very impressive to watch.

Unfortunately, his practice ended when he slipped and fell. (Anyone who ever covered hockey there knows how treacherous it was by the zamboni entrance to the ice.) Mr. Anderson cut the back of his head. Joe Lapointe and Jason Diamos -- who were also there for the Times -- freaked, and so did everyone else. Thankfully, he was more embarrassed than injured, although Lapointe went with him to the hospital.

They almost forgot his bag, until I noticed it nearby and handed it over. But the most amazing thing about it was that as he was bleeding and about to go into the ambulance, Mr. Anderson made a point of saying goodbye to a few people who had gone out of their way to say hello to him earlier.

imjustagirl2 · Sep 15, 2007

I never met Dave Anderson, but I trust the people I know on this board who have said good things, and I've never heard a bad thing about him.

I will say the column linked in the link gingerbread posted, about Steinbrenner firing Dick Howser, is one of my favorite columns. Tells the story through the environment. Excellent.

spwritenj · Sep 15, 2007

i'd like to add another story:

i was staying with dave at the british open a few years ago. the house was about a mile from the course in troon, maybe a mile and a half. dave had finished his column for the day and leans over the desk.

"i'm leaving now, do you need a ride back to the house?" he asked.

"thanks, dave, but i still have to finish my notebook," i said. "i'll meet you back there later tonight."

about 10 minutes later, there was a tap on my shoulder.

"i went and got the car from the lot," he said. "it's parked out front. let me know when you're ready to go."

can you imagine? i had a pulitzer-winning chauffer. i think about that all the time. he gave daily lessons in how to write a column and, more importantly, how to treat other people.

Frank_Ridgeway · Sep 15, 2007

I saw him talk to a large group once and he did not duck tough questions, even about his newspaper. He took the high road, but he did not work around the questions to avoid saying anything. If there was an intelligent query, he was going to respect the person by giving an honest and thought-out response.

Left_Coast · Sep 15, 2007

Pure class and very humble. He will be sorely missed.

Birdscribe · Sep 16, 2007

jgmacg said:

One of the great gentlemen of this ungentlemanly profession, Mr. Anderson is also a living link to its grander past.

After World War II, when the soldiers and sailors and pilots were on their way home, so were the war correspondents. One of them, W.C. Heinz, of the New York Sun, shipped back to the Sun offices the battered black Remington typewriter on which he'd filed his dispatches from London and Paris and Berlin. That typewriter had been with him on an anti-submarine aircraft carrier in the North Atlantic, and for the entirety of the Allied push across Europe - from the landings on D-Day to the hedgerows of St. Lo, to the race across the Lowlands and the battle of the Huertgen Forest. He covered the Battle of the Bulge with that typewriter, and the pursuit and prosecution of Nazi spies and war criminals.

Once home, he would use that same typewriter to become one of the best sportswriters of his, or any, time - and to this day, in 2007, that typewriter rests on his desk as a reminder of what a world can be made of words.

The copy boy who checked W.C. Heinz's typewriter back into the mail room of the New York Sun on the afternoon it arrived from Germany?

Dave Anderson.
Click to expand...

Great, effin' story, JG.

And I can echo in stereo what's been written here. Dave Anderson is not only class to writers, he's class personified to flacks.

Last month, he and I were in the same security line in the Tulsa airport, both trying to catch an early flight out of Dodge after the PGA. In the serpentine line, we kept passing each other and every time, Dave had something to say or a question to ask me.

Considering I'd see him maybe once a year, he'd always ask where I was going next and how much traveling I was doing in a given year.

He will be missed. In more ways than one.

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