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Litsky named inaugural Stan Saplin Award winner
Frank Litsky of The New York Times, whose career as a sports writer and editor has spanned 60 years, has been named the recipient of the inaugural Stan Saplin Sports Media Award. The award, named for the late sportswriter, track and field historian, and publicist who died in 2002, will be presented on January 12 at the New Balance Track & Field Center at the Armory in New York City when the Stan Saplin Media Center is dedicated during the NYU Gotham Cup.
The award will be presented annually to a journalist, public relations professional, executive, filmmaker or broadcaster who has made a significant contribution to the promotion of the sport.
Litsky, a 1946 graduate of the University of Connecticut, joined The New York Times in 1958 after stints at United Press International in Hartford and New York City. Litsky began as a copy editor at The Times, then became a sports writer, covering the Jets from 1965 to 1967, Joe Namath's first three years. From 1968 to 1973, Litsky served as Assistant to the Sports Editor in charge of the daily paper, then became Senior Assistant Sports Editor and Sunday Editor from 1973 to 1979. Deciding writing was more fun, Litsky went back to that.
Litsky has covered track since 1964. He has been a member of the New York Track Writers Association for more than 50 years, and has been the organization's president since 1969.
For more than a half-century Saplin was an enterprising publicist and historian for New York University, three other colleges, the Rangers hockey team, the Millrose Games and the New York City Marathon. He died on March 1, 2002 in New York University Hospital at the age of 88.
In 1934, Saplin earned a degree in accounting and finance from the NYU School of Commerce. From 1953 to 1969, he worked for the university variously as associate director and then director of public relations, director of sports publicity, director of community relations, director of alumni communications, founder and editor of the NYU Alumni News and special assistant to the president. He established the NYU Varsity Club and in 1994 he was inducted himself.
From 1946 to 1950, Saplin was public relations director of the New York Rangers, and for the next four years he was a sportswriter for The New York Journal-American. Later jobs included public relations director of Manhattanville College, Hebrew Union College and Baruch College and director of the New York office of the Amateur Athletic Union. In 1966, Saplin became the New York correspondent for the Chronicle of Higher Education.
From the 1950's to the 1990's, Saplin was the field events announcer at the Millrose Games. He was the historical editor of the monthly Track and Field News and frequently contributed retrospectives to the New York Times sports pages.
Saplin is survived by his second wife, the former Gail Cooper-Hecht, whom he married in 1992; two daughters, Anne Saplin and Elizabeth Saplin Morcillo, and a stepdaughter, Alison Hecht.
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