George Vecsey

After three years of covering religion for The Times, including two papal conclaves, George Vecsey returned to where he began his journalism career -- writing about sports. In January 1982, following the death of the sports columnist Red Smith, he was named a columnist, joining Dave Anderson in writing "Sports of The Times."

Mr. Vecsey had been a sports reporter for Newsday, on Long Island from 1960 to 1968, when he joined The Times. After two years of writing on a variety of sports, he became a national correspondent opening a Times bureau in Louisville, Ky. -- covering everything from coal mining to country music to the Kentucky Derby. That assignment lasted until 1973. He returned to New York to become Long Island correspondent, covering that area until May 1977, when he started to write about religion.

On the religion beat he covered papal trips to Mexico and the U.S. In 1978 he covered the conclaves in Rome that elected John Paul I and John Paul II.

Mr. Vecsey has written or edited many books -- some on sports. A few examples of his work are: "Joy in Mudville" in 1970, a history of the New York Mets; "One Sunset a Week," the story of a radical coal-mining family in Appalachia, that received good reviews and a few honors, 1974; "Loretta Lynn, Coal Miner's Daughter" in 1976, a bestseller that was made into a film in 1980 starring Cissy Spacek and, in 1985, "Martina," the autobiography of Martina Navratilova, also a best seller. In 1986, he wrote "A Year in the Sun," how and why he wrote columns in one year. He also wrote a book on the pioneers of aviation and collaborated on another with Bob Welch, the Cy Young Award-winner who is a recovering alcoholic. In 1990, he collaborated with Barbara Mandrell on her autobiography, "Get to the Heart," a New York Times best seller for 19 weeks.

In 1990, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Hofstra University. In 1991, he was voted the New York State Sportswriter of the Year, for the sixth straight year, by the National Association of Sportswriters and Sportcasters.

Photo: Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

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