Bill Reynolds Dies at 78 - His Impact Goes Far Beyond the Sports Page
Josh Fenton, GoLocalProv CEO and Co-Founder
Bill Reynolds Dies at 78 - His Impact Goes Far Beyond the Sports Page
We tried to hire him many times. We appreciated his talent and loved the person.
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For Bill Reynolds, it has always been about the touch.
As an athlete, reporter, columnist, and New York Times bestselling author, it has been more than about the obvious for Reynolds -- it has been about a generosity that changed people's lives.
GoLocal talked to a dozen teammates, friends and those that Reynolds helped, and oftentimes, profoundly changed, as he retires.
Reynolds on the Court
While his run at the Providence Journal has come to an end, the impact of his words has reached nearly everyone in the sports world - from NBA stars to high school athletes. For decades, it was Reynolds who communicated their most compelling stories — stories that were less about the 30 points in a game, and more often about overcoming tragedies and lives transformed.
Before the writing, it was the "touch" that made him one of Brown University’s greatest basketball shooters.
“Bill was one of the first people I met when I got to Brown," Houston Rockets Head Coach Stephen Silas, a former Brown player in the 1990s, told GoLocal. "We were instantly connected by our love of basketball, whether it was a conversation about my dad’s playing days with the Celtics or in the locker room before 'Lunch Bunch' pick up games. Bill is the best.”
Reynolds, unlike many sports writers, was a top athlete. First at Barrington High School, then Worcester Academy and then at Brown, where he dueled against greats like PC’s Jimmy Walker — the number one pick in the NBA draft in 1967. Reynolds was selected to the all-decade team for Brown Basketball.
His backcourt teammate at Brown, Rick Landau, tells GoLocal, "I have known Billy since our freshman year at Brown in 1964, fifty-six years ago. He was and still is the kindest, most selfless, and most humble person ever. I have never known Billy to think or say anything negative about someone."
"In my return to Providence in the late 1990s, Billy and I have been to many basketball games, restaurants, and Rhode Island events together, and without exception, people of all ages would come up to him to praise his ProJo columns. Billy would always take the time to engage the person while casually dismissing all the compliments," added Landau, who went on to significant success on Wall Street after Brown. "He never took himself that seriously, despite all his success as one of the best sportswriters in the country."
And Reynolds' reputation is unmatched -- he is a writer that linked generations of athletes together, but he also truly transcended sports.
“I had the enormous good fortune of having Billy take me under his wing when I was a freshman at Brown and he was a senior co-captain of the basketball team,” Russ Tyler, a member of the Brown Hall of Fame and a successful attorney, told GoLocal. “On the court, he was an unstoppable scorer. I couldn’t wait to watch Billy play as he carved up the very best defensive guards in the Ivy League, game after game, by pumping in long range bombs and fall away jump shots. I hoped to be as good as Billy and I worked toward this goal by patterning my game after his.”
For Reynolds' former teammates and friends there, is one central theme — Reynolds' generosity.
Greg Donaldson, Reynolds' roommate at Brown for two years and teammate, who went on to become an author and professor, says that it was Reynolds who sparked his own career as a writer.
Donaldson said that Reynolds repeatedly helped him after graduation -- including, he says, a story idea that Reynolds was working on that he handed off to Donaldson that ended up with Donaldson getting his first paid published piece in the Village Voice.
And Reynolds help him with a feature titled "Hoops and Misdemeanors" in Rolling Stone, about the chaos of the Fresno State team, coached by the infamous Jerry Tarkanian and featured stars like Chris Herren. "Bill is the most generous person I have known," said Donaldson.
Donaldson says that Reynolds' nickname "shooter" came during a two-on-two pick up game, when he and Reynolds were pitted against two Providence College -- and future NBA players -- Mike Riordan and Walker.
"After Billy lit up Riordan, Walker said, 'Let's switch. I'll take shooter,'" said Donaldson.
The name stuck.
Fall River Dreams, Reynolds' in-depth look at the trials and tribulations of then-high school basketball phenom Herren, is one of those rare books that captures the collision of so many aspects of life — a hard-scrabble urban upbringing, the death of a New England mill town, the epic nature of high school hero-worship, class and poverty.
The book is littered with memorable scenes of high school adolescent boy chaos, all delivered under the backdrop of the gritty reality of a transforming Fall River. Herren was a local superstar and played at a level that led him to the NBA -- and a battle with drug addiction.
It is just one of Reynolds' epic books — publications that look on the surface like they are about sports, but tell far more important stories.
Most in the region know Reynolds for his 30-plus year run as a sports reporter and columnist for the Providence Journal.
Reynolds' writing stardom took off in the 1980s and was intertwined with the emergence of the Big East as the preeminent power conference in college basketball. When ESPN made the 30-for-30 documentary Requiem for the Big East, it was Reynolds who was the featured journalist wearing his signature purple dress shirt.
The rise of the Big East was a confluence of business and sports — the stage was set, in part, with Providence playing a key role as the league was founded by David Gavitt and it was headquartered in the city. It was a time when newspapers were still king.
Reynolds was the perfect writer to help create and ride the magic carpet ride of the mega-league.
Reynolds' relationship with then-Providence College Rick Pitino, the boy wonder coach, paid dividends for both of them and the two wrote a bestseller -- Success is a Choice --- a book about the tenets of business. The book was a huge success in 1998.
Reynolds went on a run. As an author, he wrote Big Hoops: Rise of a Dynasty: The '57 Celtics, the First Banner, and the Dawning of a New America: Glory Days: On Sports, Men, and Dreams That Don't Die: Born to Coach (another book with Pitino): COUSY: His Life, Career, and the Birth of Big-Time Basketball: and Hope: A School, a Team, a Dream.
Local Lifetime Impacts
Reynolds wrote about the kids who were fighting to overcome challenges. The life-weary city kids, poor kids or just plain down-on-their luck kids.
No story was more compelling than Reynolds' feature on Phil Winslow, the Mt. Saint Charles lacrosse player whose father was in jail and his mother, a drug addict, had dropped off Winslow at her sister’s house for a “sleepover” and never returned to pick him up. He was five-years-old at the time.
“It was over ten years ago that I sat with Mr. Reynolds in the grass on a hillside before lacrosse practice. With calmness and purpose he asked me pointed questions about my upbringing and family. Our entire encounter lasted approximately 30 minutes. It is remarkable to think how a human being can have such a profound impact on your life in such a brief interaction," said Winslow.
“Mr. Reynolds was interested in the story of my early childhood, I was quite thrilled. Perhaps selfishly, I was excited someone wanted to put a story of me in the newspaper. A few weeks after he and I spoke, the article was published in the newspaper and immediately I had friends, parents of friends, family, and even strangers tell me how much the article touched them. It was cathartic to share my story with Mr. Reynolds and I would be lying if I said I did not relish in the recognition,” said Winslow, who then went on to lead the state in scoring and won the state championship.
“As I grew older I began to understand the deeper message I believe he was trying to convey to his readers. We all have an innate ability to overcome adversity in our lives, and if we are lucky enough to have guidance along the way, we can become individuals who try to make order out of the chaos. I believe he has written countless stories about young men and women like myself in his illustrious career and his impact can not be summed up in a few words. Whether he intended to or not, he instilled an understanding in me of one of the fundamental truths about human existence -- out of the darkness comes the light. Mr. Reynolds, thank you,” said Winslow, who went on to a storied lacrosse career at Clark University, and then on to earn a Doctor of Optometry degree.
Lunch Bunch
One of the secrets to Reynolds' touch and feel of sports over the years may have been his participation in the legendary “lunch bunch” basketball game at Brown University -- first at Marvel Gym, then at Pizzitola -- for more than 30 years.
The game attracted a eclectic collection of athletes. Former NBA and college stars, pro athletes from other sports, and basketball junkies, all showed up to play. Reynolds used the game as a workout and a Petri dish, connecting with athletes and coaches.
There were NFL players, pro lacrosse players and bartenders, drug dealers, cops and train conductors also at Lunch Bunch. Silas, UNC Lacrosse Coach Joe Breschi, former Villanova star and Brown head coach Happy Dobbs — all played too.
Top women athletes like former WNBA player Cindy Blodgett and Stanford’s Christina Batastini played. Reynolds played into his sixties and could still drill a 20 footer. He always had the touch.
While Reynolds delighted readers with his Saturday column “For What It’s Worth,” his overall influence on almost everyone he touched went far beyond the page.
“Billy and I have a special connection as he shares a unique perspective knowing my family and also playing hoops at Brown. He grew up in Barrington and was friends with my mother, Susan James and is best friends with my uncle, Mike Raffa. My mother passed away when I was 10 days old and my dad and I had to continue on life’s journey without her,” said Mark MacDonald, a former Brown Basketball center.
“It was a long journey for my father and I, often confusing and lonely. Billy’s words could not have been better put to paper, they are perfect. It felt like the first tangible thing my mother and I shared. My partner, Beth, recently framed the article and it hung it in our home. I read it often and it’s just as moving to me now as the first time I read it. It mended a bit of my broken heart and I’m eternally grateful to him for that. I know I’m far from the only person who he’s impacted in that way. He’s a treasure to Rhode Island, Basketball, Brown, and me,” said MacDonald.
“Billy Reynolds is a legendary sports writer in our country who has impacted the lives of so many with his books, columns, and reporting. He's also a legendary person, as anyone who's ever spent time with him would know. From my perspective as the head coach at Brown, where he once starred, I'm so grateful for how he's supported our program, mentored our student-athletes, and always found time to make sure Brown Basketball is in the conversation,” said Brown Men’s Basketball Coach Mike Martin.
For Paul Krasinski, Reynolds was that rare reporter that actually understood the game. "I first heard of Bill Reynolds through his close friendship with Chris Herren, a friend of mine and a fierce competitor. Fall River Dreams spotlighted the on-the-court and off-the-court lifestyle of Chris, which exhibited Bill's desire to know the person behind the story and not just 'bang out articles,'" said Krasinski, a former Brown basketball captain and one of the co-founders of GoLocal.
"This level of depth and desire to have a comprehensive understanding of the whole story set Bill apart from his colleagues. But my awareness of Bill Reynolds did not stop there, as Bill welcomed me to the most special family we call Brown Men's Basketball - the players, coaches, alumni, supporters, community, and families. Bill represented this family by ensuring he covered Brown Basketball with pride and yet, with honesty. It is hard to quantify the true value Bill Reynolds has had on the Brown and broader Providence community," said Krasinski.
Scott Cordischi, the voice of Brown Basketball said, "Bill is a Rhode Island institution. His Saturday "For What It's Worth" column was a staple for sports fans in southern New England for so many years. The compassion and fairness in which Bill covered sports news was unmatched."
"What many may not know about Bill was that he was a huge college basketball fan who would attend every local game humanly possible each winter," Cordischi added.
Former St. Raphael's and University of Vermont basketball star T.J. Sorrentine said that Reynolds' impact helped define sports in Rhode Island.
“The stories he told not only in the Journal, but throughout my time getting to know him have impacted my life and many of my friends lives in a way that cannot be put into words," said Sorrentine.