Jack Cavanaugh ’56, veteran sportswriter and author, will speak at Syracuse University as part of Orange Central. On Thursday, Oct. 1, he will participate in the Writing Program’s Nonfiction Reading Series at 4 p.m. in Room 500 of the Hall of Languages. The event, which is free and open to the public, is followed by a book-signing. Cavanaugh will also meet with students to discuss his 50-year career in journalism. For more information, call (315) 443-1083.
“We are thrilled to present Jack Cavanaugh, one of today’s best known and widely read sports writers,” says Eileen Schell, associate professor and director of the Writing Program. “In addition to being an accomplished writer and teacher, Jack is a terrific storyteller. His presentation and reading will be for anyone with an interest in sports and with a passion for writing.”
Cavanaugh will read from and discuss his three best-sellers: “Giants Among Men: How Robustelli, Huff, Gifford and the Giants Made New York a Football Town and Changed the NFL” (Random House, 2008); “Tunney: Boxing’s Brainiest Champ and His Upset of the Great Jack Dempsey” (Random House, 2006); and “Damn the Disabilities: Full Speed Ahead: Young Athletes Who Would Not Be Defeated” (WRS Publishing, 1995). “One of the primary elements to the greatness of this biography is Cavanaugh’s ability to plumb the confusing depths of celebrity in America,” The Denver Post said of “Tunney,” for which Cavanaugh was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in biography.
Since graduating from SU, where he wrote for The Daily Orange and played baseball and basketball, the former political science major spent a better part of his career as a journalist. For more than three decades, he covered sports for The New York Times, while contributing to Sports Illustrated, Reader’s Digest, Golf and Tennis magazines and The Sporting News. In addition to being a reporter for ABC and CBS News, he worked for newspapers and news agencies in New York City; Washington, D.C.; New Haven and Hartford, Conn.; and Providence, R.I.
Cavanaugh has covered the Olympics, as well as many Super Bowls, World Series, Masters Golf Tournaments, U.S. golf and tennis opens, and major boxing matches. He currently resides in Connecticut, where is he working on his fourth book and teaching part-time at Columbia and Fairfield universities.
Cavanaugh’s visit is made possible by The Writing Program, housed in the College of Arts and Sciences, with support from the Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies in the College of Visual and Performing Arts.
Orange Central, which includes Homecoming + Reunion, runs Sept. 29- Oct. 4.
