NASCAR writer David Poole dies

My God, I am sitting here stunned. My colleague and friend, David Poole, passed away a few hours ago at the age of 50. I wanted to let his brethren in the media field know as soon as I heard. I am in a total state of shock. I was just reading something about him yesterday, where he said one of the joys of his life was spending time with his two-year-old grandchild.

All I know is he did his morning airshift on Sirius Radio and then he was found by his wife at their home shortly after. David's paper, the Charlotte Observer, is reporting he passed away from a heart attack. Obviously, it's too early for other details, arrangements, etc.

You may have been a feisty sort, David, but you also had a heart of gold -- not to mention you were one of the most well-respected writers in the business. This is a HUGE HUGE HUGE loss for NASCAR, the sports media field and, of course, the Charlotte Observer.

Rest in peace, my friend. You left us far too young.

 

Stunning, incredibly sad news.

I had the chance to meet David when I covered my first Sprint Cup race and he was seated near me. I'm sure he could tell that, at the time, I didn't know the difference between the gas and the brake on a race car and didn't belong at the same table as him, but he continuously took time out from his work all weekend to give me a career's worth of pointers on how to cover racing - everything from the parts on the car to the personalities of the drivers to how to best strategically cover the difference aspects of a race weekend. When I returned the next time around to the same track, David treated me like we were long lost friends and wanted to know what else he could help me with. If I hadn't known better, I never would have thought this guy was busy with newspaper and internet writing and three or four or however many radio gigs he was doing nowadays.


David was one of those guys who could hold court in a media center or press row and people actually wanted to listen. I know he posted on here under his name and was not shy to assert his feelings and opinions, but even knowing him as little as I did, you could tell it was never malicious and was only because he truly enjoyed what he covered and the people he covered it with. NASCAR will miss David Poole dearly.

 

There's a thread on the S&N board.

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/69314/

 

Damn... 50?

RIP, sir.

 

Holy shit. That's just awful.

 

That is sad news... the man new his stuff.

 

I met David a few times at a previous stop covering races. He was always a first-class guy.

 

I used to toast that we all should outlive our newspapers.

I'm feeling these days that I haven't been ambitious enough in my request.

RIP, Mr. Poole. Was just reminded of your fine work the other day on the thread about racing writers.