Harvey Duck, 80, Daily News sportswriter for 35 years
March 25, 2005
BY MONIFA THOMAS Staff Reporter
There weren't too many aspects of the sports world that Harvey Duck didn't cover in his more than 35-year career as a sportswriter for the Chicago Daily News.
"Our dad was most proud of his opportunity to bring the world of sports to a city with as rich of a sports heritage as Chicago," said Mr. Duck's son, Keith, in a written statement.
For 20 years, Mr. Duck was also the public relations director for the petroleum company and auto racing sponsor, STP -- a job that allowed him to work closely with racing legends like Mario Andretti and Richard Petty.
Mr. Duck, a longtime resident of Arlington Heights, died Tuesday at Florida Hospital-Ormond Memorial. He was 80.
A native of Seattle, Mr. Duck attended Princeton University and the University of Michigan before moving to Chicago to work for the Daily News.
He started out covering prep sports in the late 1950s, around the time when basketball players from predominantly black high schools began winning a mixed-race fan base.
"Harvey came in on the ground floor of that surge in popularity, and he worked very hard and did a good job," said Bill Jauss, a fellow reporter at the Daily News. "He knew a news story, and he knew how to jump on it."
Mr. Duck's high school basketball stories earned him a place in the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He also won the "Conservation Communicator of the Year Award" from the Illinois Federation of Sportsmen in 1966 for his coverage of environmental issues.
In addition to prep sports, Mr. Duck covered skiing and motorsports for the paper, winning awards from organizations such as the United States Ski Association, The Eastern Motorsports Press Association and the Chicago Park District.
When the Daily News ceased operations in 1978, Mr. Duck put his knowledge of motorsports and his media background to use as the public relations director for STP.
In his 20 years there, Duck worked with stock-car teams and drivers, including Mario Andretti and his sons, Michael and Jeff Andretti, as well as Richard Petty and his son Kyle.
"He came to STP from a big Chicago newspaper, and there hadn't been much of that at all for race teams or sponsors. A lot of the things people are doing today in PR started with guys like Harvey Duck," Richard Petty said. "Add in the fact he was a pretty nice guy, and he was fun to have around."
Mr. Duck moved to Ormand Beach, Fla., in 1997 after he married his wife, Lexy.
A year later, he retired from STP and helped Team Seattle, a sports car team, raise more than $1 million to provide medical services for underprivileged children.
Other survivors include daughter Linda Rooney and 4 grandchildren.
A memorial service is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday at the Volusia Memorial Funeral Home in Ormand Beach, Fla.
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