Wilfred Charles Heinz (January 11, 1915February 27, 2008) was an American

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 ...

, war correspondent, journalist, and author.

Newspaper and magazine career

Heinz was born in Mount Vernon, New York. Following his graduation from Middlebury College in 1937, he joined the staff of the ''

New York Sun ''The New York Sun'' is an American online newspaper published in Manhattan; from 2002 to 2008 it was a daily newspaper distributed in New York City. It debuted on April 16, 2002, adopting the name, motto, and masthead of the earlier New York ...

''. After serving as one of the newspaper's war correspondents in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, Heinz returned to the United States and was awarded his own sports column called "The Sport Scene," which primarily covered

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

, football and horse racing. One of his pieces from around this time - ''Death of a Racehorse'', written July 29, 1949 - is famous for its brevity (fewer than 1,000 words) and its quality, having been compared to the

Gettysburg Address The Gettysburg Address is a speech that U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivered during the American Civil War at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery, now known as Gettysburg National Cemetery, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on the ...

and the works of

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century f ...

. Written on a manual typewriter as the events unfolded, the story describes Air Lift, a promising two-year-old horse who was racing for the first time, and concludes less than two hours later: Air Lift broke a leg during that first race, and had to be

euthanized Animal euthanasia ( euthanasia from el, εὐθανασία; "good death") is the act of killing an animal or allowing it to die by withholding extreme medical measures. Reasons for euthanasia include incurable (and especially painful) conditi ...

. Heinz became a freelance writer after the Sun ceased publishing in 1950. He was a regular contributor to magazines such as ''

SPORT Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

'', ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

'', ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely ...

'', '' Esquire'', ''

True True most commonly refers to truth, the state of being in congruence with fact or reality. True may also refer to: Places * True, West Virginia, an unincorporated community in the United States * True, Wisconsin, a town in the United States * ...

'', '' Collier's'', and '' Look''. The best of his magazine and newspaper pieces are published in his books ''American Mirror'', ''What A Time It Was: The Best of W.C. Heinz on Sports'' and ''The Top of His Game: The Best Sportswriting of W. C. Heinz.''

Books

He published his first book in 1958, a novel called ''The Professional'', the story of a young fighter pursuing the middleweight boxing championship.

called the book "the only good novel I've ever read about a fighter, and an excellent novel in its own right." Heinz edited two boxing anthologies, ''The Fireside Book of Boxing'' and ''The Book of Boxing'' with Nathan Ward. Heinz's additional books include ''Run to Daylight'' with football coach

Vince Lombardi Vincent Thomas Lombardi (June 11, 1913 – September 3, 1970) was an American football coach and executive in the National Football League (NFL). Lombardi is considered by many to be the greatest coach in football history, and he is recognized a ...

, ''The Surgeon'', ''Emergency'' and ''Once They Heard the Cheers'', in which the author travels the country revisiting sports heroes of his past. He also wrote the highly acclaimed magazine article, "The Rocky Road of Pistol Pete" about a baseball player,

Pete Reiser Harold Patrick Reiser (March 17, 1919 – October 25, 1981), nicknamed "Pistol Pete", was an American professional baseball outfielder and coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB), during the 1940s and early 1950s. While known primarily f ...

, who fought through countless injuries to play the game that he loved. In the late 1960s, Heinz collaborated with H. Richard Hornberger to write the novel '' MASH'', published under Hornberger's pen name Richard Hooker. The book was the precursor to the film '' MASH'', which won the award for best film of the 1970

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

and an Academy Award for best screenplay based on another medium in 1971. The book also served as the prototype for the long-running, Emmy Award-winning

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

. In 2015, the Library of America published a collection of his best sportswriting, ''The Top of His Game''. A collection of Heinz's war writings including his dispatches from Europe and some post-war articles were republished in his book, ''When We Were One: Stories of World War II''.

Other

Heinz was a five-time winner of the E. P. Dutton Award for best magazine story of the year. He won the A. J. Liebling Award for outstanding boxing writing, and his work has been reprinted in more than 60 anthologies and textbooks. He was inducted into the

National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association The National Sports Media Association (NSMA), formerly the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association, is an organization of sports media members in the United States, and constitutes the American chapter of the International Sports P ...

Hall of Fame in 2001 and into the

International Boxing Hall of Fame The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected by members of the Boxing Writers Association of America. The I ...

in 2004. In 2008, the Associated Press Sports Editors posthumously awarded him the

Red Smith Award The Red Smith Award is awarded by the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) organization for outstanding contributions to sports journalism Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and ...

for his contributions to sports journalism. Heinz died on February 27, 2008 in

Bennington, Vermont Bennington is a town in Bennington County, Vermont, United States. It is one of two shire towns (county seats) of the county, the other being Manchester. As of the 2020 US Census, the population was 15,333. Bennington is the most populous t ...

, at age 93.

References

External links

International Boxing Hall of FameBio of Heinz at University of VermontDeath of a Racehorse
archived at BloodHorse.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Heinz, W. C. 1915 births 2008 deaths Middlebury College alumni Writers from Mount Vernon, New York Red Smith Award recipients American sports journalists Boxing writers Journalists from New York (state) 20th-century American journalists American male journalists