John Feinstein obit

Sports columnist, author John Feinstein dies at age 69

 

He was not on the list.

John Feinstein, whose career as a columnist and bestselling author of sports books made him one of the most notable sportswriters of his time, died Thursday. He was 69.

Feinstein died of natural causes at his brother's home in McLean, Virginia. Robert Feinstein said he discovered his brother's body.

John Feinstein was a regular sports columnist for the Washington Post but began his career as a night police reporter in 1977. He was most widely known for his coverage of college basketball, but wrote about all sports, including golf, college football and the Olympics. He wrote for Golf Digest and was a frequent contributor to a variety of radio programs, with a regular stint on National Public Radio.

"He was very passionate about things," Robert Feinstein said. "People either loved him or hated him -- and equally strongly."

A column written by John Feinstein on Michigan State coach Tom Izzo was published Thursday morning by The Post.

Feinstein wrote 48 books, 23 of which made the New York Times bestseller list, according to his website. His first book, "A Season on the Brink," which chronicled the 1985-86 Indiana University basketball season, made him a household name and spent 17 weeks at No. 1 on the Times' bestsellers list. The book detailed the coaching methods of Bob Knight and was later turned into an ESPN film.

"I read "A Season on the Brink" in high school, the paperback version. Oh man, he was so good," Texas A&M men's basketball coach Buzz Williams said. "There's not many left in this generation that could write the way he could in his generation."

Feinstein also wrote "A Good Walk Spoiled," about a year on the PGA Tour in 1994-95, that was also a No. 1 bestseller, as well as "A Civil War," a critically acclaimed book on the Army-Navy football rivalry. He also wrote more than a dozen teen mystery books.

"The Ancient Eight," about Ivy League football, was published last year.

"John was brilliant. He was one of the best writers for sports of all time. We were great friends. I loved John. But I knew he was polarizing," former Duke men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "You loved him or hated him. He understood that. He handled it well."

Feinstein was honored with the Curt Gowdy Media Award by the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013. He's also in the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame.

Feinstein is survived by his wife, Christine, son Danny and daughters Brigid and Jayne, as well as Robert and his sister, Margaret.

Feinstein was born to a Jewish family in New York City on July 28, 1955. His father was heavily involved in the arts, having been the General Manager of the Washington National Opera from 1980 to 1995 as well as the first executive director of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Feinstein attended Duke University and graduated in 1977.

After a marriage to Mary Clare Gibbons ended in divorce, Feinstein married Christine Bauch in 2010. He had two children from his first marriage and one from his second.

Feinstein also wrote a sports-mystery series for young adults in which main characters Stevie Thomas and Susan Carol Anderson are reporting on major sporting events including the Final Four, US Open Tennis Championships, Super Bowl, World Series, the Army–Navy Game, and the Summer Olympics.

A Season on the Brink was adapted to film with an ESPN production of the same title. It starred Brian Dennehy in the role of Bobby Knight. During its original airing on ESPN on March 10, 2002, the film was presented uncensored for profanity, while a censored version was simulcast on ESPN2. It released to DVD later in 2002.

Feinstein's book Caddy for Life: The Bruce Edwards Story was released in 2004. It is about the life and final days of Tom Watson's caddy, Bruce Edwards, who was diagnosed with ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.) Feinstein and long-time friend Terry Hanson engaged the William Morris Agency and commissioned a screenplay in conjunction with Matt Damon's and Ben Affleck's production company, LivePlanet. In 2010, Caddy for Life was produced in documentary format for the Golf Channel.

On March 8, 2012, Feinstein joined SiriusXM's Mad Dog Sports Radio channel, teaming up with Bruce Murray for the sports talk show, Beyond the Brink, which aired between 10:00 am – 2:00 pm ET. However, Feinstein left the show by the fall of 2012, as he was offered a slot of his own show on the brand new CBS Sports Radio between 9 AM to 12 noon ET. CBS Sports Radio began 24/7 all sports talk on January 2, 2013. On November 14, 2014, during an interview on a Washington, D.C. radio program he announced that he had been fired by CBS from his daily radio show.

He was also a regular on-air commentator for a number of other television and radio shows, including:

 

The Golf Channel

United States Naval Academy football

The Tony Kornheiser Show

The Jim Rome Show

The Sports Junkies

Print media

 

Staff columnist:

The Washington Post

Sporting News

Golf Digest