“If you're a father of a child who dies, it's an experience that never leaves you. It scars you forever and ever and ever. And so when I do any kind of story with somebody who's in the same position as my daughter was, there's no question that something comes out of me and embraces that story in a way that only a father who lost a child could.”

American sportswriter and novelist

Frank Deford was an American sportswriter and novelist. He was born in 1938 and died in 2017. He is best known for his long career writing about sports and for his familiar presence on radio. From 1980 until his death, Deford was a regular sports commentator on NPR's Morning Edition. His work moved between journalism and fiction, and his public voice was closely associated with sports writing, commentary, and the culture around athletics.