Hal Lebovitz (September 11, 1916 – October 18, 2005) was a

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 ...

and

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (newspaper), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the fo ...

. He was a fixture on

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

's sports scene for more than six decades. In 2000, he was inducted into the writer's wing of the

National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

. Born in Cleveland, he graduated from

Glenville High School Glenville High School is a public high school in the Glenville area on the East Side of Cleveland, Ohio. The school is part of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. The school originally resided at the former Oliver Wendell Holmes school ( ...

in 1934 and went on to

Western Reserve University Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

where he received a degree in

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

. He had always wanted to be a

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

, and he became the sports

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

of the

school newspaper A student publication is a media outlet such as a newspaper, magazine, television show, or radio station produced by students at an educational institution. These publications typically cover local and school-related news, but they may also repor ...

. He got his first job covering high school sports for the ''

Cleveland News The ''Cleveland News'' was a daily and Sunday American newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio. It was published from 1905 until 1960 when it was absorbed by the rival paper ''The Cleveland Press''. History The ''Cleveland News'' traces its antecedents to 1 ...

'' in 1942 and soon became a

beat writer Beat reporting, also known as specialized reporting, is a genre of journalism focused on a particular issue, sector, organization, or institution over time. Description Beat reporters build up a base of knowledge on and gain familiarity with th ...

covering the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

and the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

. He was hired by ''

The Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. In fall 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily and 15th on Sunday. As of Ma ...

'' in 1960 and was the paper's sports editor from 1964 to 1982. His writing continued to appear regularly in '' The News-Herald'' and ''

The Morning Journal ''The Morning Journal'' is a daily newspaper based in Lorain, Ohio. Originally the ''Lorain Journal'', it was an afternoon paper which was historically more popular in an industrial town like Lorain, but switched to morning publication in the 1 ...

'' (

Lorain, Ohio Lorain () is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on Lake Erie, at the mouth of the Black River, about 30 miles west of Cleveland. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 65 ...

) until his death in 2005 at the age of 89. (One of his columns, asserting that "any boy who turns out to play football should have his chance to play, somewhere, somehow", was quoted by the comic strip ''

Gil Thorp ''Gil Thorp'' is a sports-oriented comic strip which has been published since September 8, 1958. The main character, Gil Thorp, is the athletic director of Milford High School and coaches the football, basketball, and baseball teams. In additio ...

'' on August 29, 1970.) He also coached baseball, basketball, and football and officiated all three sports, including a stint as a referee traveling with the

Harlem Globetrotters The Harlem Globetrotters are an American exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, and comedy in their style of play. Created in 1926 by Tommy Brookins in Chicago, Illinois, the team adopted the name ''Harlem'' because of i ...

. He was famous for his great knowledge of sports rules and wrote a popular newspaper column, "Ask Hal the Referee" which ran in both ''The Plain Dealer'' and ''

The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

'', in which he answered intricate questions about sports rules. His writing was featured 17 times in the annual ''Best Sports Stories'' and selected for numerous other

anthologies In book publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed work ...

. He won many writing awards and was inducted into 12 halls of fame.''The Best of Hal Lebovitz: Great Sportswriting from Six Decades in Cleveland''. Gray & Company Publishers: Cleveland, 2004.

Bibliography

*''Ask Hal'', (2007) *''The Best of Hal Lebovitz'', (2006)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lebovitz, Hal 1916 births 2005 deaths American columnists Jewish American journalists Sportswriters from Ohio Glenville High School alumni Writers from Cleveland Sports in Cleveland BBWAA Career Excellence Award recipients Case Western Spartans men's basketball players Journalists from Ohio American men's basketball players 20th-century American journalists American male journalists 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews