Bert Sugar

Herbert Randolph Sugar (June 7, 1936 – March 25, 2012)^[1] was an American sportswriter known for his work covering boxing and baseball. As the author of over 80 books, The New York Times called Sugar an "accomplished raconteur with a bottomless sack of anecdotes" who was always seen with his trademark fedora and unlit cigar.^[2][3] He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2005.^[1]

Sugar was born in Washington, D.C., on June 7, 1936.^[1] His father was Jewish and he believed that his mother was descended from the Randolph family of Virginia.^[4] In 1953, Sugar graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in Washington, where he was a reporter and columnist for the school's newspaper. His entry in the high school yearbook for that year predicted he "will become a radio announcer or sports writer". Sugar graduated from the University of Maryland before earning a JD and MBA from the University of Michigan. He passed the bar in Washington, D.C. in 1961, but never practiced law.^[1]

After passing the bar, Sugar worked in advertising, including with the McCann Erickson agency. His first sports venture was as editor-publisher of Baseball Monthly magazine in 1962, started with the assistance of Detroit Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell, whom Sugar met while at the University of Michigan.^[5] Sugar bought Boxing Illustrated magazine in 1969 and was editor until 1973.^[6] From 1979 to 1983 he was editor and publisher of The Ring magazine. In 1988 he again became editor of Boxing Illustrated. In 1998 he founded Bert Sugar's Fight Game.

Sugar wrote more than 80 books, focusing on his favorite sports of boxing and baseball. Among his boxing books are Great Fights, Bert Sugar on Boxing, 100 Years of Boxing, Sting like a Bee (with José Torres), The Ageless Warrior (Preface, with Mike Fitzgerald) and Boxing's Greatest Fighters. Sugar was ranked as "The Greatest Boxing Writer of the 20th Century" by the International Veterans Boxing Association.^[7]

In May 2009 Sugar published Bert Sugar's Baseball Hall of Fame: A Living History of America's Greatest Game through Running Press.^[8]

With James Randi, Sugar co-wrote a book about Harry Houdini titled Houdini, His Life and Art.

Along with Lou Albano, he helped write The Complete Idiot's Guide to Pro Wrestling.^[9] He wrote a regular sports column for Smoke Magazine, a quarterly cigar lifestyle magazine. Sugar was described by sportscaster Bob Costas as being "Runyonesque" (in reference to Damon Runyon).

Sugar appeared in several films playing himself, including Night and the City, The Great White Hype, and Rocky Balboa.^[10]

In 1960, Sugar married Suzanne Davis, a fellow University of Michigan graduate,^[5] and they raised a son and a daughter together.^[1] Sugar died of a heart attack on March 25, 2012,^[6] at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, New York, aged 75. At the time of his death, he had also been suffering from lung cancer.^[3]