Among the most honored and versatile writers in the country, Frank Deford's work has appeared in virtually every medium. In magazines, he is Senior Contributing Editor at Sports Illustrated. On television, he is a correspondent on the HBO show, "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel," and on radio he may be heard as a commentator every Wednesday on "Morning Edition" on National Public Radio. Previously, he has been a commentator at both NBC and CNN. . 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 "the world's greatest sportswriter."

Deford has been a correspondent on HBO's Real Sports since the show's inception in 1995. The scope of his work is far reaching. In addition to his work on Real Sports, Deford's writing credits at the network include "Bill Russell: My Life, My Way," "Dare to Compete: The Struggle of Women in Sports," "Rebels of Oakland: The A's, the Raiders, the 70's," and "Sports on the Silver Screen."

Deford is the author of more than a dozen books. His most recent works include Old Ball Game (2005) and The Best of Frank DeFord: I'm Just Getting Started. His other books have ranged from biography to history to mystery to humor. Two of his books, Everybody's All-American, and Alex: The Life of A Child, his memoir about his young daughter who died of cystic fibrosis, have been made into movies.

Among his many honors, Deford is a member of the Hall-of-Fame of the National Association of Sportscasters and Sportswriters. Six times he was voted by his peers as U.S. Sportswriter of the Year. Twice he was voted Magazine Writer of the Year by the Washington Journalism Review.

He has been presented with a National Magazine Award and a Christopher Award. In broadcast, Deford has won an Emmy® in 1988 for his work on NBC at the Seoul Olympics. He received a Cable Ace® award for writing the 1994 HBO Sports' documentary "Arthur Ashe: Citizen of the World."

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

Frank is no stranger to The Connecticut Forum. He was a Moderator in 1995 for Sports Personalities and was honorary co-chair in 2005 for The Forum's Annual Fund.

NOTE: This bio appeared in the October 14, 2005 program for our "Hope and Human Spirit" Forum.