(Posted March 29, 2004)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Gerald Eskenazi, one of the New York Times? most prolific sportswriters and the author of 14 books, will speak at Juniata College at 8 p.m., Thursday, April 1 in Alumni Hall in the Brumbaugh Science Center on the Juniata campus.

The event is free and open to the public.

Eskenazi, who started as a copyboy at the New York Times in 1959, will talk about the overwhelming amount of news available to people in the United States as well as the various competitive media that fight for attention in an increasingly shrill marketplace.
Over his 45 years as a working reporter, Eskenazi tallied more than 8,000 bylines in the paper, putting him in the top five at the Times for career bylines. In addition to a varied sports career, he has also written extensively on wine, food and travel.

Eskenazi?s most recent book caps his sportswriting career. ?A Sportswriter?s Life: From the Desk of a New York Times Reporter? was published this month by the University of Missouri Press. In his book, Eskenazi details his interactions covering such sports stars as Muhammad Ali, Joe DiMaggio, Willie Mays and Joe Namath.

He retired from the Times in 2000. A sampling of his other books include ?A Thinking Man?s Guide to Pro Hockey,? ?There Were Giants in Those Days,? ?Yaz: Baseball, the Wall and Me,? ?Bill Veeck: A Baseball Legend,? ?The Lip: A Biography of Leo Durocher? and ?Gang Green,? a history of the New York Jets.

He has covered professional hockey, pro football, soccer, auto racing and the Olympics.
He received a Deadline Club Award for a New York Times series on gambling.

He graduated from City College of New York and has taught journalism at St John?s University and Adelphi University.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.