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RIP Fred Turner (UPDATE)

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by SF_Express, Apr 11, 2011.

  1. Prospero

    Prospero Member

    Re: RIP Fred Turner

    He gave me my start when I was a 17-year-old high school senior, a 20-hour PT position covering high schools in PB County. That was 1986. Didn't know then how fortunate I was that it was Fred Turner I called and called and called that summer, just to see if they'd made a decision. A lot of guys would've shut me down (and, maybe, rightfully so). But not Fred. If he hadn't taken those calls and shown tons more patience than an impatient punk like me deserved, I have no idea what I would've done this last quarter-century. Probably wouldn't have been a sportswriter, though. Thank you, Fred, for everything. RIP.
     
  2. Simon_Cowbell

    Simon_Cowbell Active Member

    Re: RIP Fred Turner

    I'm going to miss a few, since this is off the top of my head, but here is a partial list of Fred's hires/interns who have gone on to become successful writers/TV personalities... And that just scratches the surface. His desk hires were at least as impressive:

    Mitch Albom
    Bill Plaschke
    Gene Wojciechowski
    Larry Dorman
    Rachel Alexander Nichols
    Andrea Szulszteyn Adelson
    Geoff Calkins
    Mike Mayo
    Steve Hummer
    Gordon Edes
    Charles Bricker
    David O'Brien
    Jorge Milian
    Mike Russo
    Michael Rosenwald
    Donovan Campbell
    Dave Hyde
    Mike Berardino
    Randy Mell
     
  3. SF_Express

    SF_Express Active Member

    Re: RIP Fred Turner

    I got a couple of PMs, so I'm just going to put the information here:

    Funeral services are Thursday, 11:45 a.m. - 1:30 at Kraeer Funeral Home, 1655 N. University Dr., Coral Springs, Fla., (954-753-8960). Graveside services are for the family only. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made online to Hospice By the Sea.
     
  4. MileHigh

    MileHigh Moderator Staff Member

    Re: RIP Fred Turner

    Dave Hyde

    http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/fl-hyde-fred-turner-obit-20110411,0,6829686,full.column
     
  5. SF_Express

    SF_Express Active Member

    Re: RIP Fred Turner

    That Mitch Albom story is pretty much exactly as I remember it. He did a lot of pre-Sarajevo stories for the Sun-Sentinel.

    Fred loved the guy, and obviously, he was right. I famously said I didn't know if Albom would make it as a daily columnist. I was thinking in terms of an 800-word daily columnist, and wondering about that space limitation. They simply didn't worry about in Detroit, but there was no getting around the fact that Fred was right about the talent there.
     
  6. Bill Plaschke

    Bill Plaschke New Member

    Re: RIP Fred Turner


    I remember the day several years ago when I walked into the Sun Sentinel offices and gave Fred Turner one of the APSE plaques I had won in L.A....Hell, I figured, it belonged to him, just as much of my career belonged to him...But instead of hugging me, he screamed at me....''What the hell's wrong with you, Plash! Remember, I'm the guy who threw you out!''...And he was...And that moment he tossed me out in 1983 defined for me, forever, what it is like to be a sports editor...Fred Turner was the greatest of sports editors, the greatest of men, and my life was only one of many that he changed forever.

    When I came into his office on that afternoon in the fall of 1983, I was the Miami Hurricanes beat writer, covering the beginning of what would be their first national championship team...It was my first big break, given to me by the first boss who didn't care that I didn't go to nationally known journalism school (He couldn't even pronounce, "Southern Illinois University Edwardsville"), the first boss who didn't care that I stuttered a little and shuffled a little and was pretty much the most awkward young sports hack ever...Fred didn't care about my complete lack of reputation or pedigree or background or breeding..He never looked at my resume...He looked only at the work, he only cared about the work, because that was how we reached the readers, and how Fred loved the readers...He was never about awards or acclaim, he was about those readers...So, in taking a huge chance, he grabbed me from the preps/bowling/senior citizen tennis beat and put me on the Hurricanes beat.

    And six months later, I was sitting in front of him telling him about an offer to cover the Seattle Mariners for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, a million miles away, I had never heard of the paper and barely heard of the team and I was scared to death of the whole thing. Part of me didn’t want to go, part of me wanted to stay with Fred and show him that he didn’t take a chance on me in vain, show him that I could one day be the journalist he believed I could be.

    I’ll never forget him throwing up his big old black factory shoes on the desk, looking me in the reddening eyes, and barking, ‘’Get out!’’…I was like, ‘’What?’’…He said, ‘’Get out! This is your dream. Have the balls to go after your dream! This is your chance! Take it! Think bigger than me! Think bigger than this place! Get out!’’
    Many years later, of course, it is obvious he was wrong. There was nobody bigger in this business than Fred Turner, and no place bigger than the Sun Sentinel when he ran it. I left Freddie that day but, like many others in this business, he never left me, his passion and hope alive in us forever.
     
  7. GBNF

    GBNF Well-Known Member

    Re: RIP Fred Turner

    I think I sum this up for everyone when I say, holy shit.
     
  8. SF_Express

    SF_Express Active Member

    The funeral service site has changed. This is the new information:

    A change in funeral location for Fred Turner: The Gardens - A Memorial Park at 4103 North Military Trail Boca Raton, Florida 33431. (the day and time are the same).

    Day and time are 11:45 a.m. Thursday.
     
  9. mediaguy

    mediaguy Well-Known Member

    Never had the chance to work with either, but in Fred and in Van, we've lost two great ones from Florida papers. Thanks for the stories from those of you who were lucky enough to know them.
     
  10. reformedhack

    reformedhack Well-Known Member

    Didn't know Fred very well personally, not much beyond a meeting I had with him and one of his deputies back in the early 1990s to exchange information about local/state coverage, or at the occasional APSE meeting. But just watching from the other side of the state, I was impressed with the section and the staff he assembled to go head-to-head with Miami and Palm Beach. As noted above, that was one of the country's last great newspaper battles -- clearly accelerated by his efforts and talent. Safe home, Fred.
     
  11. geoffcalkins

    geoffcalkins New Member

    I don't belong on a list with Plaschke and Albom, but Fred certainly changed the arc of my life.
    I was working for the Anniston Star, which was an afternoon paper back then. Had never written on a real deadline. Didn't know jack about covering baseball. Fred read my clips and bio and offered me the Marlins beat. He wasn't that impressed that I went to Harvard Law School. He was impressed that, at 32, I was risking something in pursuit of a dream.
    I remember trying to turn down the offer, mostly because I was scared I would flop. Fred wouldn't let me. He had more faith in me than I had in myself. He saw that I was making $325 a week and offered me $55,000 a year "because that's what major league beat writers make."
    Truth is, I did flop. If Gordon Edes hadn't been there to save my ass, it would have been worse. But Fred kept believing. He was the best.
    He didn't think I should leave for Memphis, though. Especially after he got a call from someone here asking mostly about my ability to spell. As my parting gift, he gave me "Hooked on Phonics." I have it still.
     
  12. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    This is a section that under Fred's stewardship traveled to the Goodwill Games . . . in Moscow.

    That traveled to the America's Cup . . . in Australia.

    That traveled to the French Open and Wimbledon . . . every year.

    When I was interviewing there in December 1985, an AME popped his head in the door and casually told Fred that he was about $20,000 over the travel budget.

    When the AME left, Fred shrugged his shoulders and said, "Ahhh, just wait till he sees the numbers NEXT month.''
     
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