FRANK DeFORD

FAMOUS SPORTSWRITER AND COMMENTATOR

SPEAKS TO Y's MEN APRIL 26 th ABOUT "THE ENTITLED"

Westporter Frank DeFord, well-known author and commentator, will speak to the Y's Men of Westport/Weston at their weekly meeting on Thursday, April 26. His topic is “The Entitled ”, which is the name of his newest novel, to be published in May, about celebrity, sports and sex. The meeting begins at 10AM at the Saugatuck Congregational Church, 245 Post Road East.

Frank Deford is among the most versatile of American writers. His work has appeared in virtually every medium. In magazines, he is the Senior Contributing Writer at Sports Illustrated. On radio, he may be heard as a commentator every Wednesday on Morning Edition on National Public Radio and, on television, he is a regular correspondent on the HBO show, RealSports With Bryant Gumbel.

Moreover, Deford is the author of fifteen books, two of which -- the novel, Everybody's All-American, and Alex: The Life Of A Child, his memoir about his daughter who died of cystic fibrosis -- have been made into movies. Another of his books, Casey On The Loose, is being turned into a Broadway musical. Cathy Schulman, producer of 2005's Best Picture, Crash, is producing Deford's next film, a comedy, The Sister-in-Law.

As a journalist, Deford has been elected to the Hall of Fame of the National Association of Sportscasters and Sportswriters. For six times Frank Deford was voted by his peers as U.S. Sportswriter of The Year. The American Journalism Review has likewise cited him as the nation's finest sportswriter, and twice he was voted Magazine Writer of The Year by the Washington Journalism Review.

Deford has also been presented with the National Magazine Award for profiles, a Christopher Award, and journalism Honor Awards from the University of Missouri and Northeastern University, and he has received many honorary degrees. The Sporting News has described Deford as “the most influential sports voice among members of the print media,” and the magazine GQ has called him, simply, “the world's greatest sportswriter.” In broadcast, Deford has won both an Emmy and a George Foster Peabody Award. ESPN presented a television biography of Deford's life and work, You Write Better Than You Play . A popular lecturer, Deford has spoken at more than a hundred colleges, as well as at forums, conventions and on cruise ships around the world.

For sixteen years, Deford served as national chairman of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and he remains chairman emeritus. He resides in Westport with his wife, Carol. They have two grown children -- a son, Christian, and a daughter, Scarlet. A native of Baltimore, Deford is a graduate of Princeton University, where he has taught in American Studies.

For more information about the Y's Men, contact Bill Meyer, Membership Chairman at 226-3704 or Jon Fox, President at 227-2679 or visit their website: www.ysmenwestportweston.org