Bill Christine

Summary

Bill Christine (born Willard M. Christine, Jr., August 5, 1938) is an American former sportswriter, author, and publicist, dealing primarily with baseball and horse racing, who served briefly as sports editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and, for roughly the final half of his career, as a nationally syndicated columnist for the Los Angeles Times.

Bill Christine
Born
Willard M. Christine, Jr.[1][2]

(1938-08-05) August 5, 1938 (age 85)[3][4][5]
EducationSouthern Illinois University Carbondale[6]
Occupation(s)Journalist, author, publicist
Employers
AwardsEclipse Award, Outstanding Newspaper Writing (1984)[21]
David F. Woods Memorial Award (1991, 1992)[22]

Early life and career edit

Christine was born in Illinois on August 5, 1938, to Willard M. Christine and Bernice J. Walsh.[23][24][2][25] He graduated from Assumption High School in 1956,[6] and later from Southern Illinois University Carbondale.[26] While attending SIUC, he also reported on sports for the Southern Illinoisan.[7]

Works edit

Books edit

  • "Numero Uno" Roberto! (1973)[27]
  • Bill Hartack : the Bittersweet Life of a Hall of Fame Jockey (2016)[28]
  • They Left Their Hearts in San Francisco : The Lives of Songwriters George Cory and Douglass Cross (2017)[6]

Selected articles edit

  • "Bucs Deck Cards; Clemente's Catch Saves Veale's Win". The Pittsburgh Press. September 12, 1969. p .29
  • "The Sports Beat: Two Bits, Please; The Early Bird; Who's Chi Chi". The Pittsburgh Press. April 28, 1970. p. 41
  • "National League Gallery of Stars". Baseball 1972 Yearbook. March 1972. pp. 68–78
  • "Our Man in Florida Chalks One Up". The Pittsburgh Press. April 28, 1971. p. 29
  • "Don Wilson Was Something Special". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. January 21, 1975. p. 18; reprinted as "Don Wilson: The End Came Too Soon". Baseball Digest. April 1975.
  • "As I See It". Sports Illustrated. March 29, 1976. p. 73
  • "An Official Scorer Who Has Lived to Tell About It". The News York Times. July 22, 1979. p. S2; reprinted as "Scorers Can't Please Everyone". Tallahassee Democrat. July 21, 1979. p. 46
  • "An Official Scorer Who Has Lived to Tell About It". The News York Times. July 22, 1979. p. S2; reprinted as "Scorers Can't Please Everyone". Tallahassee Democrat. July 21, 1979. p. 46* "Ride 'Em, Cowboy Jack, Right to Winner's Circle". Best Sports Stories 1983. St. Louis, MO: The Sporting News Publishing Company. 1983. pp. 147–151
  • "'Secretariat's' Loss: rival Angle Light". Los Angeles Times. October 3, 2010. p. 24

References edit

  1. ^ "Look Who's New on the Press Sports Team". The Pittsburgh Press. March 16, 1969. Pg. 6, sec. 4.
  2. ^ a b "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9MB-4CFV?cc=2000219&wc=QZXT-M6Y%3A790104501%2C799504301%2C804316501%2C804318101 : accessed November 10, 2022), Illinois > St. Clair > East St. Louis Township, East St. Louis, Tract SCC-6 > 82–59 East St. Louis Township, East St. Louis City (Tract SCC-6 – part) > image 35 of 44; citing Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 – 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012.
  3. ^ Gauen, Pat (May 3, 2018). "Author seeks to link three Belleville murders". St. Louis Post-Gazette. p. A6. "Christine, a retired sportswriter living in California, figures he still needs a year of digging and writing before publication. [...] Christine, 79, was raised in East St. Louis and graduated from Assumption High School."
  4. ^ "United States Public Records, 1970–2009", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KT84-XG2 : December 20, 2019), Bill Christine, 2007-2007.
  5. ^ Bill Christine – Torrance, California. FamilyTreeNow.com.
  6. ^ a b c Holleman, Joe (June 10, 2017). "Joe's St. Louis: Bobby's Place downtown shuts down; Tune Tome". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. A2.
  7. ^ a b Christine, Bill (December 22, 1957). "East St. Louis Tourney Folds; All Meets Not Successful". Southern Illinoisan. p. 10.
  8. ^ "Practice Goes Like Clockwork for Cards". Southern Illinoisan. December 2, 1963. p. 16.
  9. ^ Christine, Bill (November 24, 1965). "The Army-Navy Bore". The Courier Journal & Times Magazine. p. 6.
  10. ^ Christine, Bill (September 4, 1966). "Terps Morale Up Under New Coach". The Tampa Tribune. September 4, 1966. p. 12-F.
  11. ^ Christine, Bill (September 22, 1968). "Soph Roller Leads UK Defense in Rolling 'Em Back". The Courier Journal & Times.
  12. ^ Christine, Bill (February 23, 1969). "U of L Play No. 23 Makes King Shots Hit Like a Ringer". The Courier Journal & Times. p. 43.
  13. ^ a b c "Here From Chicago: Christine Joins P-G as Asst. Sports Editor". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. January 30, 1973. p. 16.
  14. ^ a b "Bill Christine Named Editor". Southern Illinoisan. March 3, 1974. p. 11.
  15. ^ "Musick Named Sports Editor Post-Gazette". The Courier-Express. February 5, 1976. p. 17. "Musick replaces Bill Christine, who resigned several months ago."
  16. ^ "The Racing Fronts: Changes at Commodore". The Thoroughbred Record. March 13, 1976. p. .
  17. ^ Halvonik, Steve (May 27, 1984). "Troubled Commodore Downs Returns Under New Reins". The Pittsburgh Press. p. D10. "'It was a shoestring operation,' said Bill Christine, who was LRA's public relations director in 1976–77."
  18. ^ "Newspeople in the News". Editor and Publisher. March 18, 1978. p. 39.
  19. ^ "Best Horse Affirmed?". Spokane Daily Chronicle. December 8, 1978. p. 30.
  20. ^ Jones, Merle (June 27, 1982). "Former Area Writer Makes National Syndication". Southern Illinoisan. June 27, 1982. p. 16
  21. ^ Staff of the Thoroughbred Times (2004). The Original Thoroughbred Times Racing Almanac. Lexington, KY: Thoroughbred Times Books. p. 74. ISBN 1-931993-41-6.
  22. ^ "Newswire: Yale Hockey Coach chosen for U.S. Team; Names in the News". Los Angeles Times. May 24, 1992. p. C9.
  23. ^ Burns, Ken (June 7, 1974). "The Batting Cage". Pittsburgh Catholic.
  24. ^ "United States Public Records, 1970–2009", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KTC8-RZJ : December 19, 2019), Willard M Christine, 2007–2008.
  25. ^ "Obituaries: Bernice Dumstorff". The Belleville News-Democrat. April 11, 1991.
  26. ^ "Christine Gets New Post". The Belleville News-Democrat. February 21, 1973. p. 27.
  27. ^ Finoli, David; Ranier, David (2003). The Pittsburgh Pirates Encyclopedia. Sports Publishing LLC. p. 624. ISBN 1-58261-416-4.
  28. ^ Cherwa, John (September 30, 2017). "Racing! Today is a big day at Santa Anita". Los Angeles Times (Online). ProQuest 1944810753. One of the sport's all-time good guys, Bill Christine, is out with a new book 'Bill Hartack – The Bittersweet Life of a Hall of Fame Jockey.' And he'll be signing (and no doubt selling) copies at Santa Anita on Saturday starting at 10:30 a.m. outside Champions! Gifts & Apparel. It's also available at Barnes & Noble. I haven't read the book, but if Bill wrote it, it's got to be good.

Further reading edit

  • "College Awards to 9 AHS Seniors". The Messenger. June 8, 1956. p. 6

External links edit

  • Bill Christine at IMDb