The Red Smith Reader

“Quite simply the most thorough collection ever of the master’s work . . . a joy to everyone who picks it up.”
—John Schulian, The Chicago Sun-Times


Awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1976, Walter Wellesley “Red” Smith is considered one of the greatest sportswriters ever to live. Put alongside Ring Lardner, Red Smith was beloved by those who read him because of his crisp writing and critical views.

Originally released in 1982, The Red Smith Reader is a wonderful collection of 131 columns with subjects ranging from baseball and fishing to golf, basketball, tennis, and boxing. As John Leonard of the New York Times appropriately stated, “Red Smith was to sports what Homer was to war.”

With a fantastic foreword by his son, successful journalist Terence Smith, The Red Smith Reader shows true sportswriting from one of the masters of the craft. The writing and style of Red Smith will live forever, and this collection’s look into the past at what he saw and covered shows how far sports and sportswriting have come in our country.

Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports—books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team.

Whether you are a New York Yankees fan or hail from Red Sox nation; whether you are a die-hard Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys fan; whether you root for the Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, UCLA Bruins, or Kansas Jayhawks; whether you route for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, or Los Angeles Kings; we have a book for you. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Dave Anderson is a Pulitzer Prize–winning sportswriter who has worked for the New York Times since 1971. Anderson is the author of more than twenty books and has won multiple awards for his writing, including the Associated Press Sports Editors Red Smith Award. He lives in Tenafly, New Jersey.

Terence Smith is a journalist who has written for such publications as the New York Times. He is a multiple Emmy Award–winner and is the son of Red Smith. He lives in Shady Side, Maryland.