Maury Allen (born Maurice Allen Rosenberg; May 2, 1932 – October 3, 2010) was a

Russian-American Russian Americans ( rus, русские американцы, r=russkiye amerikantsy, p= ˈruskʲɪje ɐmʲɪrʲɪˈkant͡sɨ) are Americans of full or partial Russians, Russian ancestry. The term can apply to recent Russian diaspora, Russian imm ...

sportswriter, actor, and columnist for the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'' and the ''Journal-News''. He was also a voter for the

Baseball Hall of Fame 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 ...

. Allen wrote 38 books on American sports icons. He also contributed to Thecolumnists.com.

Early life

Allen was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, to parents Harry and Frances Rosenberg. Harry Rosenberg was a coffee salesman and Frances a homemaker. His grandparents came from

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

He attended James Madison High School where he covered sports for the school paper. As a young man, Allen was a

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...

fanatic. His book, ''Brooklyn Remembered: The 1955 Days of the Dodgers'', recalls the glory days of the team, before they were moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. After high school, he attended

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

where he majored in journalism and played for the football team. Allen had one older brother. Following college, Allen was drafted into the Army. He served in Japan and in

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

Sports journalism career

Allen wrote for the City College newspaper, ''The Campus'', covering sports. When he was drafted to the Army, he continued as a reporter, writing for the Pacific Stars and Stripes. After his service, he wrote for papers in

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

and

. In 1959, Allen was hired as sports writer at ''

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 twic ...

''. He wrote for ''Sports Illustrated'' for two years. His next newspaper job was reporting for the ''

'' from 1961 to 1988. From 1988 to 2000, he wrote articles for ''

The Journal News ''The Journal News'' is a newspaper in New York (state), New York State serving the New York counties of Westchester County, New York, Westchester, Rockland County, New York, Rockland, and Putnam County, New York, Putnam, a region known as the H ...

'', owned by the

Gannett Company Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.Mickey Mantle Mickey Charles Mantle (October 20, 1931 – August 13, 1995), nicknamed "the Commerce Comet" and "the Mick", was an American professional baseball player. Mantle played his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career (1951–1968) with the New York ...

's Restaurant, Bill Liederman. The show was broadcast live from Mickey Mantle's Restaurant, near

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

in New York City. The one-hour long show featured sports talk and interviews with athletes. Allen was a contributor to a talk show hosted by Dave Cooperman and Bill Liederman called ''The Sports Buzz'' which was broadcast originally by

WFAS-FM WFAS-FM (103.9 MHz, branded as "Talk FM 103.9") is a radio station licensed to Bronxville, New York. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and features a conservative talk radio format in a simulcast with White Plains-licensed sister station ...

(2003-2004) in Westchester and then

WCTC WCTC (1450 AM broadcasting, AM "Fox Sports New Jersey") is a commercial radio, commercial radio station broadcasting a sports radio radio format, format. city of license, Licensed to New Brunswick, New Jersey, the station serves Middlesex Coun ...

(2005-2007) in

Central Jersey Central Jersey is the central region of the U.S. state of New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, ...

. Lori Rubinson from season 1 of

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

's ''

Dream Job ''Dream Job'' is an American reality television show made by ESPN, which began on February 22, 2004. It was the network's second reality show, with two editions of '' Beg, Borrow & Deal'' having previously aired. However, this was the first reali ...

'' and now a contributor on WFAN replaced Liederman. Cooperman and Rubinson moved the show to the WCTC studios and the show eventually was moved to the 5:00-7:00 time slot. Maury Allen remained a contributor through the life of the show.

Film appearances

Allen was interviewed on numerous occasions in documentary films, such as ''Toots'' (2006), ''Mantle'' (2006), and ''Howard Cosell: Telling It Like It Is'' (1999).

National Baseball Hall of Fame voter

Allen was a member of the

Baseball Writers' Association of America The Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) is a professional association for journalists writing about Major League Baseball for daily newspapers, magazines and qualifying websites. The organization was founded in 1908, and is known fo ...

, and was a voter for the National Baseball Hall of Fame for 35 years. He became eligible to vote in 1973 after more than 10 years as a traveling sports reporter.

Later work

Allen completed work on a book entitled "

Dixie Walker Fred E. "Dixie" Walker (September 24, 1910 – May 17, 1982) was an American professional baseball player, coach, scout and minor league manager. He played as a right fielder in Major League Baseball from 1931 to 1949. Although Walker was a fi ...

of the Dodgers", a right fielder for the Yankees,

White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

, and Brooklyn Dodgers, and controversial figure in baseball in the 1940s for his stance against

racial integration Racial integration, or simply integration, includes desegregation (the process of ending systematic racial segregation). In addition to desegregation, integration includes goals such as leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

, which was released in 2010.

Publications

* ''Sports Illustrated,'' 1959-1961 * ''New York Post,'' 1961-1988 * ''Journal-News,'' 1988-2000 * ''The Columnists.com,'' 2001–?

Personal life

In 1962, Maury Allen married Janet Allen. They had two children, daughter Jennifer, and son Ted and four grandchildren. Prior to retirement, Allen was an avid

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player. Friends and acquaintances often joked that Allen could be counted on to show up for tennis any day of the year. Allen died of

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlar ...

at the age of 78.

Awards and honors

Allen was granted a Lifetime Achievement Award by the

Society of Silurians A society is a Social group, group of individuals involved in persistent Social relation, social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same Politics, political authority an ...

, one of the oldest journalistic organizations in existence. He was inducted into the B'nai B'rith Sports Hall of Fame, City College of New York Hall of Fame, the

International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame ( he, יד לאיש הספורט היהודי, translit=Yad Le'ish HaSport HaYehudi) was opened July 7, 1981 in Netanya, Israel. It honors Jewish athletes and their accomplishments from anywhere around ...

, the James Madison High Hall of Fame, the Westchester County New York Hall of Fame, and the Brooklyn Dodgers Hall of Fame. On November 9, 2011, he was posthumously awarded the Townsend Harris Medal by the Alumni Association of City College of New York.

Bibliography

''Dixie Walker of the Dodgers,''
with Susan Walker and published by the

University of Alabama Press The University of Alabama Press is a university press founded in 1945 and is the scholarly publishing arm of the University of Alabama. An editorial board composed of representatives from all doctoral degree granting public universities within Al ...

* ''Yankees World Series Memories'' * ''Our Mickey: Cherished Memories of an American Icon'' * ''Brooklyn Remembered: The 1955 Days of the Dodgers,'' co-author

Bob Costas Robert Quinlan Costas (born March 22, 1952) is an American sportscaster who is known for his long tenure with NBC Sports, from 1980 through 2019. He has received 28 Emmy awards for his work and was the prime-time host of 12 Olympic Games from 19 ...

* ''Mr. October: The

Reggie Jackson Reginald Martinez Jackson (born May 18, 1946) is an American former professional baseball right fielder who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, and Cali ...

Story'' * ''Damn Yankee: The Billy Martin Story'' * ''You Could Look It Up'' * ''Big-Time Baseball'' * ''Where Have You Gone,

Joe DiMaggio Joseph Paul DiMaggio (November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "The Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career in Major League Baseball for the New York Yank ...

?'' * ''Bo: Pitching and Wooing'' * ''Memories of the Mick: Baseball's Legend'' * ''Voices of Sport'' * ''Now Wait a Minute, Casey'' * ''The Record Breakers'' * ''The Incredible Mets'' * ''After the Miracle'' * ''

Joe Namath Joseph William Namath (; ; born May 31, 1943) is a former American football quarterback who played in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the New York Jets. He played college foot ...

's Sportin' Life'' * ''Reprieve From Hell'' * ''The Three Million Dollar Man'' * ''Louisiana Lightning'' * ''

Jim Rice James Edward Rice (born March 8, 1953), nicknamed "Jim Ed", is a former Major League Baseball left fielder and designated hitter. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Baseball Hall of Fame on July 26, 2009 Baseball ...

: Power Hitter'' * ''China Spy'' * ''A Sword in the Temple'' * ''Slick'' * ''Sweet Lou'' * ''Ten Great Moments in Sports'' * ''All Roads Lead to October'' * ''Baseball's 100'' * ''Jackie Robinson: A Life Remembered'' * ''Baseball: The Lives Behind the Seams'' * ''Greatest Pro Quarterbacks'' * ''Yankees: Where Have You Gone?'' * ''Baseball's 100'' * ''Ron Guidry: Louisiana Lightning'' * " Roger Maris: A Man For All Seasons"

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
credits

* The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame

Ralph Branca Ralph Theodore Joseph "Hawk" Branca (January 6, 1926 – November 23, 2016) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1944 through 1956. Branca played for the Brooklyn Dodgers (1944� ...

for Losing the 1951 Pennant *

Yogi Berra Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra (May 12, 1925 – September 22, 2015) was an American professional baseball catcher who later took on the roles of Manager (baseball), manager and Coach (baseball), coach. He played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball ...

George Steinbrenner George Michael Steinbrenner III (July 4, 1930July 13, 2010) was an American businessman who was the principal owner and managing partner of Major League Baseball's New York Yankees from 1973 until his death in 2010. He was the longest-serving own ...

Roger Maris Roger Eugene Maris (September 10, 1934 – December 14, 1985) was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He is best known for setting a new MLB single-season home run record with 61 ...

Notes

Complete Bibliography of Maury Allen Books

Macmillan Publishing: Maury Allen

References

External links

*
Thecolumnists.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Maury 1932 births 2010 deaths Jewish American journalists Deaths from lymphoma Sportswriters from New York (state) Writers from Brooklyn United States Army soldiers James Madison High School (Brooklyn) alumni United States Army personnel of the Korean War Deaths from cancer in New Jersey 21st-century American Jews