04/19/24
April 23, 2007
Author David Halberstam killed in car crash:
Halberstam was a proficient and outstanding writer whose works covered the extraordinary 1949 baseball season, the 1964 World Series that ended the Yankees' longest dynasty, the industry that was Michael Jordan, and the enigmatic New England Patriot's coach Bill Belichick.
posted by The Crafty Sousepaw to culture at 09:15 PM - 9 comments
There's a good portrait of Halberstam in Neil Sheehan's "A Bright Shining Lie", covering the time in Vietnam, and his subsequent disillusionment Living down here, I wasn't aware of his sports reporting, but will make amends through the links. Thanks, Crafty.
posted by owlhouse at 10:00 PM on April 23, 2007
"Summer of '49" is one of the finest books I've ever read. A great writer, no matter what he was writing about. He'll be sorely missed.
posted by The_Black_Hand at 06:05 AM on April 24, 2007
Ditto. I love to read his work.
posted by SummersEve at 06:15 AM on April 24, 2007
I was so sad to hear of Halberstam's death. What an amazing writer -- the world needs more like him. Rest in peace.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 07:25 AM on April 24, 2007
The San Francisco Chronicle has good local coverage of the accident. Halberstam was en route to an interview with Y.A. Tittle about the NFL's "greatest game," the 1958 NFL Championship between the New York Giants and the Baltimore Colts. He won the Pulitzer Prize at age 30 and still had the drive to produce 21 important works on politics, history and sports. Reading his bio, he sounded like the Chuck Norris of non-fiction.
posted by rcade at 08:13 AM on April 24, 2007
A huge loss. I always found him to have the qualities consistent with what I believed when I heard someone referred to as a "voice". I never read his sports stuff - I will now.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 09:59 AM on April 24, 2007
I know that intersection well, it's had a number of fatal accidents. One less worthwhile writer. /sigh
posted by irunfromclones at 05:01 PM on April 24, 2007
Calling David Halberstam a journalist is a bit like referring to Monet as a cartoonist. He might have started as a reporter, as many good writers do, but he has attained the reputation as one of the better historians of our time. May he rest in peace.
posted by Howard_T at 05:07 PM on April 24, 2007
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