While John was known as a chronicler of the success of Duke basketball and its coach Mike Krzyzewski, John did not launch his writing career in the reflected glory of day-to-day coverage of Duke sports teams in the national spotlight. He started at The Chronicle in 1973 on the news side. But by the end of the fall of his freshman year he was dabbling in sports. In an era when college football teams like Alabama, Texas and Notre Dame, stockpiled unlimited talent, Duke football competed for the opening weeks but faltered as injuries took a toll. In basketball Duke was transitioning from the Vic Bubas era to a new Bill Foster resurgence that reached its height only after John graduated. The basketball record during his 4 years was 50-56, and it was 2-10 in the ACC for his senior year.
As his first sports editor I’d like to say that I set John on the path to his phenomenal success, but that’s not the case. From the beginning, John had the drive to report an event, but the creativity to shape a story. One of his early basketball articles was an account of a Duke-Maryland clash, and John sets the stage by describing the Cole Fieldhouse madhouse of its time. John even had the tools of the trade, a compact typewriter he could easily tote to assignments and from which he turned out clean copy on deadline with the flair of the writers he grew up reading in New York City. John was covering basketball by his sophomore year and was sports editor for his junior and senior years. My job was to recognize his talent and then get out of his way.
I have read that John may have had problems with editors, but I did not find that to be the case. The only challenge I recall was when he had been in our Flowers office and had overheard me praising a colleague for his coverage of an intramural championship game. John confronted me asking why I never seemed as effusive in my praise for his articles. I told him I needed folks to cover Intramural championships, and his colleague was doing the best he could do; while John was covering ACC basketball, a recognition of his talent, and, though his colleague was not going to get much better, John could and the criticism might help. John said okay; he was fine with that.
Steve Garland, Trinity '75 and former sports editor at The Chronicle from 1973 -75.
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Like John, I worked at the Chronicle from 1973 to 1977, so I had the pleasure of knowing and working with John when he was there. I was a mediocre journalist at best, but I enjoyed my time there and the comradery of working there. It was obvious to all of us even then that John was an enormous talent, a true sports fan and was destined to make a name for himself. It came as no surprise to me or anyone else at Duke when he became one of the most prolific sports writers of all time.
I loved reading his books about those who struggled to make it in sports – battling through Q-school in the hope of getting a PGA card, fighting in the minor leagues in the hope of getting one more shot at playing in MLB and the challenges of competing on the PGA tour. Though I think John was a college basketball fan first and foremost — how can anyone go to Duke and not be a college basketball fan — it is his books about golf and baseball that are my favorites. The Duke basketball teams that John covered were good teams, but not good enough to compete for an ACC title. Those were the days of the great Maryland, Carolina, and NC State teams. This was the pre-Coach K era. I have many of John’s books in my library.
John and I were not close friends, and I don’t think I ever saw him after we graduated, but we were colleagues, and I followed his career from afar for the past 48 years. I was shocked and saddened to hear of his sudden passing. After all, we are both the same age, and 69 is way too young for him to be gone. It also reminds those of us who graduated with him just how quickly and unexpectedly life can end, leaving loved ones behind and in shock.
John was a legend at The Chronicle, and I hope he will always be remembered and honored there and by the entire Duke community. Thank you, John for all your brilliant insights into the world of college and professional athletics. Rest in peace.
Mitch Wiener, Trinity '77.
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Chasing the game
It’s Sunday morning and I wish I could text John Feinstein right now and ask him what he thought of the game last night. Duke won its 23rd ACC Tournament defeating Louisville without its superstar Cooper Flagg. I want to ask him about the excellent and unselfish guard play of Knueppel, Proctor and James.
I have this team making the Final Four and wanted to know what he thought about their chances to go further after watching the talented supporting cast dominate the field. John and I called this subject “the unspeakable” topic because we didn’t want to jinx the future.
I’ve known John for the past two years while working as his editor on “Five Banners: Inside the Duke Basketball Dynasty.” He was ready to write a new chapter for this team if “the unspeakable” came to pass.
On Thursday afternoon, he passed away suddenly. I’m still in shock.
Since arriving at Duke Press in 2019, I’ve always wanted to publish a book about Duke basketball. John found his way to me in the spring of 2023 through his agent Andrew Blauner who represents our author, Alex Wolff. I’d read Feinstein’s “Season on the Brink” when it was first published in 1986 and realized our book could take the reader into the locker room and onto the court in similar ways.
Those five championships were about sacrifices, hardships, personalities, conversations and the bonds between coaches and players, something that is fading from the college game. Basketball also played a big role in the first 100 years of the University and I wanted a book for the Centennial.
John had a vision for the project. It was as though he’d been thinking about it for decades.
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“I’ve covered every national championship and have a title: Five Banners.”
On that first call, he told me he had texted Coach K about it. I had no idea how close they were.
“Mike has agreed to help out.”
He proceeded to give me a sense of their relationship. John had been at the much talked about Denny’s conversation in Atlanta in the wee hours of the morning after a tough ACC tournament loss to Virginia in 1983. They had remained close. It was Coach K who advised him on the prospect of being embedded with Coach Knight for the season.
“Are you out of your [expletive deleted] mind?”
Feinstein wrote the Indiana book as if his life depended on it and it sold millions.
“My biggest fear was getting thrown out of the locker room,” John said. “It almost happened.”
The phone call could have lasted hours. John was a gifted storyteller with an encyclopedic memory. He was also a gym rat, a sports junkie with a tenacity when it came to his work. He never stopped publishing even up to the day he died.
His most interesting stories were the things we couldn’t print.
As an aspiring collegiate swimmer, he was supposed to go to Yale but “the gym smelled like chlorine.” He visited Duke and the sun was out, frisbees were flying and he watched the Blue Devils upset Maryland behind Gary Melchionni’s thirty-nine points. He ran into Gary years later in a steakhouse in Manhattan on the night he proposed to his first wife.
“You’re the reason I went to Duke,” he said to him. Then proceeded to talk for another twenty minutes with Melchionni while his fiancé wondered where he was.
We talked about everything, and he had an opinion on it all. My dad had been a college basketball coach. We knew the same people. I’m also a gym rat and like John, published a book on the Ravens. I also learned we had similar health issues.
“You can still eat that steak. Just don’t eat all of it,” he told me.
I sent back notes on the first draft of the manuscript. There was a brief mention of Jerry Tarkanian the legendary UNLV coach and we needed more about “Tark the Shark’s” impact on the game in the Pre-NIL era. UNLV played up-tempo basketball in an NBA style before it became the norm. They were loaded with NBA-level talent and Duke lost to them in the 1990 NCAA final.
“I liked Tark very much,” John said. “I came to see Mike about helping Lefty Driesell [legendary Maryland coach] get into the Hall of Fame. He told me it was very difficult to get Guy Lewis and Jerry Tarkanian in. I told Mike that Tark was his fault.”
Coach K was not pleased. Throughout it all, they sparred, they laughed, and they stuck together. He loved referring to Coach K as Adam Silver’s “consigliere.” That was vintage John: the perfect word and characterization.
After publishing “The Legends Club” about Dean Smith, Jim Valvano and Mike Krzyzewski, Feinstein thanked his friend for his time.
“John, I should be thanking you … I’m Catholic. When I die, I can tell God I’ve already been through purgatory,” said Coach K.
John and I had bigger plans in the hopper. For instance, he’s always wanted to write the definitive biography of Coach K. We discussed strategies for making that happen.
John Feinstein was my friend too.
Dean Smith, director of Duke University Press.
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I met John as a January '77 transfer while writing features for The Chronicle. I hardly ever saw him, because he was out on his beat, reporting. But I did sit around and have a beer with him and other staffers after we put the paper to bed a couple of times. I read his work with great admiration because he could capture action and emotion unlike any other writer, and he was always accurate. I felt like I knew him, because he inspired me to be a better writer, whether it was with his books or his stories. I wish I had known him better. But he was busy doing what he did best. I am sorry for his loss.
Ann Bierbower Lally, Trinity '78.
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John was Mr. Duke Sports. He will be greatly missed. Condolences to his loved ones.
Thomas Kagsrise, Duke '71.
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Love his book, “The Legends Club” … he was a great author and observer. His wit and interesting insights will be missed!
Parham R Fox, former resident in diagnostic radiology at the Duke University Medical Center.
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John served as a speaker for an alumni event at the Duke in D.C. office on Feb. 18, just 23 days before he passed away. The event showcased his book “5 Banners: Inside the Duke Basketball Dynasty,” and was co-sponsored by the book’s publisher Duke University Press, Duke University Libraries, The Chronicle and the Duke Entertainment, Media and Arts Network (DEMAN).
John drove himself to the Duke in D.C. office from his home in rural Virginia, 3 hours away. He arrived early to make sure that he had ample time to sign books and speak with each alumni guest prior to the moderated interview. John was extremely gracious during the book signing, patiently taking time to discuss and share each person’s favorite Duke basketball memory.
Following the book signing, we moved into the conference room for the interview moderated by Wall Street Journal reporter Amrith Ramkumar, Trinity ’17, who was the former editor-in-chief and sports editor of The Chronicle. Amrith served as an excellent interviewer — demonstrating his own deep knowledge of college basketball, while also pointing out how John’s access to Coach K differed immensely from the more limited access that challenged student reporters during his time on the Chronicle staff. During the interview, attended by nearly 100 alumni and guests, John enjoyed fielding many questions and comments from the audience. The event evolved into a fascinating conversation with John, where he shared many funny stories and unique insights that delighted his audience.
The origin of this event is another fun story illuminating John’s enthusiasm to connect with alumni. John was on campus during Parents Weekend back in October for a book event with Coach K. Duke alumnus and parent Larry Smith, Pratt ’27 and Law ’94, was also on campus and bumped into John, Coach K and John’s publisher, Dean Smith, of Duke University Press. This encounter occurred under the Bryan Center Walkway where the three were surreptitiously waiting to enter the book event. Larry is a huge basketball fan and leveraged this surprise encounter to invite John to D.C. where Larry serves as a Board Member on the Duke D.C. Regional Board. John accepted on the spot, and Dean Smith provided his business card, eager for Duke University Press to be included. The event date of Feb. 18 was confirmed shortly after, and Chronicle CEO Chrissy Murray lined up Amrith Ramkumar to serve as the moderator. The event invitation launched in mid-January and immediately sold out with 100 registrants — a testament to the respect that John amassed during his extraordinary journalism career.
May John rest in peace for eternity.
Louise Ward Meyer, Trinity '87 and Regional Director of Duke Alumni Engagement and Development.
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We welcome the Duke community to send additional remembrances to The Chronicle at opinion@dukechronicle.com.