John Eric Lake (born February 18, 1930, in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York C ...

- disappeared December 10, 1967) was the sports editor of ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...

'' until his mysterious disappearance.

Personal background

John Eric Lake was born February 18, 1930, in

. He graduated in 1951 with a B.A. degree in journalism from Syracuse University, where he met his wife Alice Conlin. The couple married in 1952 while Lake was serving in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

. He returned to graduate school at Syracuse after he was discharged from the

. The couple had a daughter and a son. His wife and children later moved to New Jersey and then to Islesford, Cranberry Island,

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

. John Lake was declared missing in December 1967 and deceased by a court in New Jersey in 1975.

Career

The ''Binghamton News Press'' hired both John Lake and his wife in 1952, and he worked in sports while she wrote features. In 1959 Lake became a staff writer at the '' New York Herald Tribune''. Lake worked with Red Smith while at the ''Tribune''. In February 1964, he moved to ''Newsweek'' to become its sports editor. He succeeded

Dick Schaap Richard Jay Schaap (September 27, 1934 – December 21, 2001) was an American sportswriter, broadcaster, and author. Early life and education Born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, and raised in Freeport, New York, on Long Island, Schaap began wri ...

in this role. In his last year at the magazine, Lake authored three cover stories (nine in four years) on such varied topics as "The Black Athlete", the

Indy 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indianap ...

and the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

. Lake was hired as a ghost writer for Bob Gibson's autobiography and had all but submitted the work. Lake's last issue for ''Newsweek'' was the December 11, 1967, issue with a cover featuring a dark-haired, bespectacled

Robert McNamara Robert Strange McNamara (; June 9, 1916 – July 6, 2009) was an American business executive and the eighth United States Secretary of Defense, serving from 1961 to 1968 under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. He remains the ...

, asked, "Why is He Leaving?" After Lake's disappearance in 1967, he was replaced as sports editor six months later by Pete Axthelm, a writer for ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...

''.

Disappearance

John Lake was last seen in midtown

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, on December 10, 1967. At that time, he was walking toward the subway to go home. A missing persons report was filed by his wife, Alice, four days later. His disappearance was investigated by the

Pinkerton Detective Agency Pinkerton is a private security guard and detective agency established around 1850 in the United States by Scottish-born cooper Allan Pinkerton and Chicago attorney Edward Rucker as the North-Western Police Agency, which later became Pinkerton ...

, which was hired by ''Newsweek''. Years after, a police officer from missing persons showed his son a February 1968 photo of a corpse who closely resembled Lake but could not be positively identified. Missing Person documents: *New York Police Agency Case Number: 29273 *NCIC Number: M-563761275 *NamUs MO#4386

Reactions

Lake was admired by other journalists and athletes.

Peter Benchley Peter Bradford Benchley (May 8, 1940 – February 11, 2006) was an American author, screenwriter, and ocean activist. He is known for his bestselling novel '' Jaws'' and co-wrote its film adaptation with Carl Gottlieb. Several more of his works ...

, author and screenwriter, who edited the Radio/TV section at ''Newsweek'' at the time, admitted to being intimidated by him.

Mario Andretti Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940) is an Italian-born American former racing driver. One of the most successful drivers in the history of motorsports, Andretti is one of only two drivers to have won races in Formula One, IndyCar, t ...

, auto race driver, called him the most prepared journalist from the national media that ever interviewed him.

Bert Sugar Herbert Randolph Sugar (June 7, 1936 – March 25, 2012) was an American boxing writer and sports historian known for his trademark fedora and unlit cigar. Biography Early life and education Sugar was born in Washington, D.C. on June 7, 193 ...

, boxing raconteur, recalls it was John Lake that moved press conferences from showmanship to seriousness with a single question.

References

External links