Bill Christine (born Willard M. Christine, Jr., August 5, 1938) is an American former

sportswriter Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1800s when it was targeted to the social elite and transitioned into an integral part of the n ...

, author, and publicist, dealing primarily with baseball and

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

, who served briefly as sports editor of the ''

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the All ...

'', and, for roughly the final half of his career, as a nationally syndicated columnist for the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

''.

Early life and career

Christine was born in Illinois on August 5, 1938, to Willard M. Christine and Bernice J. Walsh. He graduated from Assumption High School in 1956, and later from

Southern Illinois University Carbondale Southern Illinois University (SIU or SIUC) is a public research university in Carbondale, Illinois. Founded in 1869, SIU is the oldest and flagship campus of the Southern Illinois University system. The university enrolls students from all 50 s ...

. While attending SIUC, he also reported on sports for the ''

Southern Illinoisan ''The Southern Illinoisan'' is a daily newspaper based in Carbondale, Illinois, known locally as "The Southern." As of October 2014, it has a daily circulation of 21,270, and a Sunday circulation of 26,958. It is one of the major regional newsp ...

''.Christine, Bill (December 22, 1957)
"East St. Louis Tourney Folds; All Meets Not Successful"
''Southern Illinoisan''. p. 10.

Works

Books

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

Selected articles

"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 a
"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 a
"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 a
"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

External links