Mark Leary succumbs to cancer

In case any of you ever worked with or knew him, Mark Leary died yesterday of cancer. Here is the story that ran today in The Journal News.

http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061121/SPORTS01/611210365/1035

 

I was just going to start a thread.
I knew Mark through APSE. A fine man and a damn good SE.
He has a wife and 2 boys, condolences to them and the J-N sports staff.
Very sad day.
RIP Mark, you were a great region chair.

 

I interviewed for a desk job at The Journal News many years ago and spent a day with Mark. A classy guy.. RIP.

 

Mark was the epitome of what sports newspaper management should be.

:'(

 

Besides being a very talented journalist, Mark Leary was one of the classiest guys I ever had a chance to know. He was a pleasure to work with when I was and APSE officer and his legacy lives on in the great sports pages of the Journal News and his staff. My condolences to Mark's family and his staff.

 

I deeply wish I had had the chance to work with Mark.

RIP

 

Those of us who had the good fortune to work with Mark were better journalists because of him. Very sad day.

 

When I was covering preps in Fort Lauderdale, Mark Leary was a larger-than-life desk guy who understood my nutty passion and was patient with my silly mistakes. He was the one of the first guys who urged me to take a chance, swing for the fences, don't be afraid to fail. For that, I will be forever grateful. All of us who worked with Mark will surely agree that this business, and this world, has lost one of its legends.

 

Quite a testament to Mr. Leary: all the contributors on this thread whose posts number in the single digits

 

And who post under their real names. Big names, by the way.

 

I had the good fortune to work in Mark's sports department for two years at The Journal News. I was just a part-timer in a big staff then, but he never treated me like one. Even to hear him talk about the direction of a story, or the direction of journalism, or why it wasn't OK for me to write a 100-inch story on fighting in high school hockey was a treat.
Unfortunately, I lost touch with him over the last year or so, but I've never stopped using everything he taught me. The guidance he provided was incredible, even when I kinda wondered if sending someone like me down to the most random place in the world -- Starkville, Miss. -- was the right call. He knew.
I'll forever be indebted to him.

Ian R. Rapoport
Alabama beat reporter
The Birmingham News

 

Mark brought me to The Journal News seven years ago, and he made me a better journalist in every way. Mark was tireless in his dedication to the paper, and he made you want to do your best work because you could see the effort he was putting in and how much he cared. When you went above and beyond the call, Mark let you know that he appreciated it.

Mark was also a terrific person to talk to, about newspaper issues or anything else going on in your life. He was also a great person to spend time with, and I'm lucky to have played a few rounds of golf with him and attended a couple of games with him. I'm glad he got to see his Red Sox win it all.

He left us — and more importantly his wife, Lynn, and his sons Robbie and Jonathan — way too soon. But he won't be forgotten, and his influence on this business will be felt for years, through all the people he worked with and taught.

Rest in peace, Mark.


Joe Erwin
Assistant Sports Editor
The Journal News

P.S. For more on Mark, most of our reporters with blogs posted their thoughts at LoHud.com/blogs.