Al Laney | |
|---|---|
| Born | Albert Gillis Laney (1896-01-11)January 11, 1896 |
| Died | January 31, 1988(1988-01-31) (aged 92) |
| Occupation | journalist |
| Years active | 1920s–1966 |
| Employer(s) | New York Evening Mail New York Herald Tribune |
| Awards | Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award (1984) Int. Tennis HoF Member Page (1979) |
Albert Gillis Laney (January 11, 1896 – January 31, 1988) was an Americansportswriter who specialized intennis andgolf but also coveredbaseball,boxing andAmerican football.[1]
Laney was born on January 11, 1896[2] inPensacola, Florida, the son of an attorney and one of six children.[3] He served as a lieutenant inWorld War I and saw action atThe Battle of the Argonne Forest.[3]
AfterWorld War I, Laney became a correspondent at theNew York Evening Mail. In 1924 he went to Europe and joined theParis Herald, as the European edition of theNew York Herald was known.[4] During his period in Europe he also started working for theNew York Herald Tribune. In the summer months he would travel between Paris and England to cover theWimbledon tennis tournament, theDavis Cup and the British golf tournaments. In 1930 he returned to the United States to join theTribune's sports staff, where he covered baseball, tennis and golf.[5] He retired when theTribune ceased publication in 1966.[3]
In 1947, Laney published an account of theParis Herald newspaper titledParis Herald: The Incredible Newspaper and in 1968 he publishedCovering the Court; a 50-Year Love Affair With the Game of Tennis, amemoir on his experience as a tennis correspondent from World War I through to the start of the Open era.[3][6]
Laney was regarded as one of the leading American tennis journalists of the first half of the 20th century together withAllison Danzig ofThe New York Times. In 1979, Laney was inducted into theInternational Tennis Hall of Fame inNewport, Rhode Island, for his contributions to tennis.[4][7] He received theElmer Ferguson Memorial Award in 1984 and is a member of the media section of theHockey Hall of Fame.[8]
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