Bill Dwyre
Encyclopedia
Bill Dwyre is a sportswriter and former newspaper sports editor. Notable for his long tenure as sports editor of the Los Angeles Times
beginning in June 1981, he moved to the writing ranks full time in June 2006. But for virtually his whole career he has worked both sides of the desk, as an editor and writer, and today writes several weekly columns for the Times.
After a high-profile, multi-sport athletic career at Sheboygan North High School
, Dwyre went to the University of Notre Dame
, where he was a member of the tennis team and sports editor of ND Voice, the forerunner of the university’s current daily paper, The Observer. He graduated in 1966 with a degree in Communication Arts
and began his journalism career shortly thereafter, as a sports copy editor for the Des Moines Register until 1968. From 1968 to 1981 he worked at the Milwaukee Journal
, where he was made sports editor in 1975. He moved to the Los Angeles Times as assistant sports editor, and three months later was promoted to sports editor.
1984 Summer Olympics
, for which he mobilized a staff of more than 100, including 59 credentialed reporters, at that time the largest of its kind for Olympic coverage. The staff published 24 special daily editions, most of them 44 pages, of Olympic coverage in addition to the paper’s regular sports section. It was an unprecedented display of newspaper Olympic coverage for which Dwyre had seemingly boundless budgetary and personnel resources. The success of the ’84 Summer Games as reflected in the excellence of the L.A. Times’ coverage garnered Dwyre several awards, including National Editor of the Year from the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
; the National Headliner Award
from the Press Club of Atlantic City; and the Los Angeles Times Award for Sustained Excellence, all conferred in 1985.
Recognition for Dwyre’s work on the 1984 Summer Olympic Games has been bookended by a host of local, regional and national honors. The most prestigious was the Red Smith Award
from the Associated Press Sports Editors
in 1996 for service to sports journalism. Other accolades include: the Wisconsin Sportswriter of the Year (1980); the Loyola Marymount Pride of Lions Award
for Service to the Community (1993); the Powerade Sports Story of the Year from the National Assn. of Sportscasters and Sportswriters
for his Los Angeles Times Magazine cover story on college basketball coach and social icon John Wooden
(1999); the U.S. Tennis Writers Assn. Column of the Year award (2000) for Australian Open
coverage; the California Sportscasters Good Guy Award (2000); the California Golf Writers Good Guy Award (2003); the Arkansas Subiaco Academy Literary Award of Merit (2004); the Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment Commission Ambassador Award of Excellence for contributions to the city of Los Angeles (2005); the Associated Press Executive News Council’s top award for sports writing (2007); the John Wooden Pyramid of Excellence Award, in conjunction with the annual Wooden Classic Basketball Tournament (2008); California Sportswriter of the Year for 2009 from the National Assn. of Sportscasters and Sportswriters (2010); the BNP Paribas Open Media Award, given annually in Indian Wells, Calif., one of two tennis tournaments deemed only a notch below the four majors (2011); the David F. Woods Award honoring the best Preakness Stakes story for the previous year (2011).
Program in Journalism, Ethics and Democracy; and a member of the board of directors of Casa Colina Hospitals for Rehabilitation in Pomona, California
. He has spoken at journalism classes at the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles, as well as more than a dozen times at the American Press Institute in Reston, Virginia.
In addition to writing as a staff member, Dwyre wrote a monthly column for Referee magazine from 1972–2002, and has contributed articles to the Huffington Post
, TWA
Ambassador magazine and The Korea Times
. Having been the editor for the Los Angeles Times’ late Pulitzer Prize
winning sportwriter Jim Murray
, Dwyre edited a book of Murray’s columns shortly after Murray’s death in 1998, titled The Last of the Best.
Dwyre is married to the former Jill Jarvis and has two children, Amy and Patrick. He lives in San Dimas, California
.
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
beginning in June 1981, he moved to the writing ranks full time in June 2006. But for virtually his whole career he has worked both sides of the desk, as an editor and writer, and today writes several weekly columns for the Times.
After a high-profile, multi-sport athletic career at Sheboygan North High School
Sheboygan North High School
Sheboygan North High School, is a high school in Sheboygan, Wisconsin operated by the Sheboygan Area School District. The school opened in 1938 in what is now Urban Middle School on the city's north side, with the current building opening just northeast of Urban in 1961.The building has undergone...
, Dwyre went to the University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
, where he was a member of the tennis team and sports editor of ND Voice, the forerunner of the university’s current daily paper, The Observer. He graduated in 1966 with a degree in Communication Arts
Communication studies
Communication Studies is an academic field that deals with processes of communication, commonly defined as the sharing of symbols over distances in space and time. Hence, communication studies encompasses a wide range of topics and contexts ranging from face-to-face conversation to speeches to mass...
and began his journalism career shortly thereafter, as a sports copy editor for the Des Moines Register until 1968. From 1968 to 1981 he worked at the Milwaukee Journal
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. It is the primary newspaper in Milwaukee, the largest newspaper in Wisconsin and is distributed widely throughout the state...
, where he was made sports editor in 1975. He moved to the Los Angeles Times as assistant sports editor, and three months later was promoted to sports editor.
Professional awards and recognition
Dwyre rose to national prominence with the Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
1984 Summer Olympics
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984...
, for which he mobilized a staff of more than 100, including 59 credentialed reporters, at that time the largest of its kind for Olympic coverage. The staff published 24 special daily editions, most of them 44 pages, of Olympic coverage in addition to the paper’s regular sports section. It was an unprecedented display of newspaper Olympic coverage for which Dwyre had seemingly boundless budgetary and personnel resources. The success of the ’84 Summer Games as reflected in the excellence of the L.A. Times’ coverage garnered Dwyre several awards, including National Editor of the Year from the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
; the National Headliner Award
National Headliner Awards
The National Headliner Awards are a prize given out by Press Club of Atlantic City since 1935. Both broadcast journalism and print journalism are recognized, in separate categories.-External links:*...
from the Press Club of Atlantic City; and the Los Angeles Times Award for Sustained Excellence, all conferred in 1985.
Recognition for Dwyre’s work on the 1984 Summer Olympic Games has been bookended by a host of local, regional and national honors. The most prestigious was the Red Smith Award
Red Smith Award
The Red Smith Award is awarded by the Associated Press Sports Editors for outstanding contributions to sports journalism. It has been awarded annually at the APSE convention since 1981...
from the Associated Press Sports Editors
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
in 1996 for service to sports journalism. Other accolades include: the Wisconsin Sportswriter of the Year (1980); the Loyola Marymount Pride of Lions Award
Loyola Marymount Lions
The Loyola Marymount Lions are the athletic teams that represent Loyola Marymount University, a Jesuit institution in Los Angeles, California. The school competes in NCAA Division I, with its primary affiliation in the West Coast Conference, an organization consisting solely of...
for Service to the Community (1993); the Powerade Sports Story of the Year from the National Assn. of Sportscasters and Sportswriters
National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association
The National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association, or NSSA, is an organization of sports media members in the United States. It constitutes the American chapter of the International Sports Press Association ....
for his Los Angeles Times Magazine cover story on college basketball coach and social icon John Wooden
John Wooden
John Robert Wooden was an American basketball player and coach. Nicknamed the "Wizard of Westwood", he won ten NCAA national championships in a 12-year period — seven in a row — as head coach at UCLA, an unprecedented feat. Within this period, his teams won a record 88 consecutive games...
(1999); the U.S. Tennis Writers Assn. Column of the Year award (2000) for Australian Open
Australian Open
The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court...
coverage; the California Sportscasters Good Guy Award (2000); the California Golf Writers Good Guy Award (2003); the Arkansas Subiaco Academy Literary Award of Merit (2004); the Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment Commission Ambassador Award of Excellence for contributions to the city of Los Angeles (2005); the Associated Press Executive News Council’s top award for sports writing (2007); the John Wooden Pyramid of Excellence Award, in conjunction with the annual Wooden Classic Basketball Tournament (2008); California Sportswriter of the Year for 2009 from the National Assn. of Sportscasters and Sportswriters (2010); the BNP Paribas Open Media Award, given annually in Indian Wells, Calif., one of two tennis tournaments deemed only a notch below the four majors (2011); the David F. Woods Award honoring the best Preakness Stakes story for the previous year (2011).
Professional and civic activities
Dwyre is a past president of the Associated Press Sports Editors; a member of the Advisory Board of the University of Notre Dame's John W. GallivanJohn W. Gallivan
John W. Gallivan is an American newspaper publisher, cable television pioneer, and civic leader. A major figure in the promotion and development of Salt Lake City and Utah's ski industry, he was instrumental in starting the campaign to bring the 2002 Olympic Winter Games to Salt Lake City...
Program in Journalism, Ethics and Democracy; and a member of the board of directors of Casa Colina Hospitals for Rehabilitation in Pomona, California
Pomona, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Pomona had a population of 149,058, a slight decline from the 2000 census population. The population density was 6,491.2 people per square mile...
. He has spoken at journalism classes at the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles, as well as more than a dozen times at the American Press Institute in Reston, Virginia.
In addition to writing as a staff member, Dwyre wrote a monthly column for Referee magazine from 1972–2002, and has contributed articles to the Huffington Post
The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,...
, TWA
Trans World Airlines
Trans World Airlines was an American airline that existed from 1925 until it was bought out by and merged with American Airlines in 2001. It was a major domestic airline in the United States and the main U.S.-based competitor of Pan American World Airways on intercontinental routes from 1946...
Ambassador magazine and The Korea Times
The Korea Times
The Korea Times is the oldest of three English-language newspapers published daily in South Korea, along with The Korea Herald and The JoongAng Daily. It is part of the same newspaper group as Hankook Ilbo, a major Korean language daily...
. Having been the editor for the Los Angeles Times’ late Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
winning sportwriter Jim Murray
Jim Murray (sportswriter)
James Patrick Murray was an American sportswriter at the Los Angeles Times from 1961 to 1998.Many of his achievements include winning the NSSA's Sportswriter of the Year award an astounding fourteen times...
, Dwyre edited a book of Murray’s columns shortly after Murray’s death in 1998, titled The Last of the Best.
Dwyre is married to the former Jill Jarvis and has two children, Amy and Patrick. He lives in San Dimas, California
San Dimas, California
San Dimas is a city located in the San Gabriel Valley, in Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 33,371. The city historically took its name from San Dismas Canyon in the San Gabriel Mountains above the northern section of present day San Dimas...
.