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Note: enjamin6, Benjamin5, Isaac4, Thomas3, Gabriel2, Gabriel1, Johnp10, Thomasp9, Thomasp8, Thomasp7, Thomasp6, Johnp5, Thomasp4, Robertp3, Walterp2, Williamp1)
born November 30, 1931, Saratoga Springs, Saratoga Co., N.Y.
died August 9, 1996 Queens, New York City, N.Y.
buried August 13, 1996, St. John’s Cemetery, Maspeth, N.Y.
married Jane ? , Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Children (Leggett) 5: 1 boy, 4 girls ß order may not be correct
30a-g11Le16 Eileen11
30b-g11Le16 Patricia11
30c-g11Le16 Maureen11
30d-g11Le16 Susan11
30e-g11Le16 William (Bill)11
William10 was 3 years my junior and we never had any relevant contact. I have five articles from Sports Illustrated, which refer to William10, four of which have photos, excerpts follow. However "Pop" always seemed to have any edge, "an in", with what went on in the New York area, I wonder now if William10 was not that edge.
Sports Illustrated
Letter From the Publisher, March 2, 1964, by Sidney L. James
[This letter revolves around the growing support for the Mets over the lofty Yankees in the New York metro area.]
... One who got the message right away was our baseball writer, Bill10 Leggett, who had been aware for some time that the rising tide of support for the Mets was not entirely attributable to faddists enchanted by the novelty and often humorous incompetency of the National League's 10th-place team. ...
[The letter mentions a story by William10 found on page 12.]
Sports Illustrated
Letter From the Publisher, October 19, 1964, with photo, by Sidney L. James
[The author was using the allegory of fishing on the first day of the season, with all the competition, and getting a fresh or new story.]
... We have such a fisherman on our staff, though you probably wouldn't notice him on a trout stream until you saw that his creel was full. His name is William10 Leggett, and he is a quiet, slender young man - he's 32, but he doesn't look it - whose manner is courtly and unobtrusive. Without noise, without trumpet and drum, he goes into the crowed waters of major league baseball and consistently comes up with the fresh idea, the new angle, the trend that is about to be.
[The story goes on with several examples of William10's insight in the forthcoming season.]
... Leggett's propensity for sensing future developments probably has its roots in his early and abiding love for horse racing, a sport that lives on anticipation of what may be, particularly in the feature race tomorrow. Bill10 was born and brought up in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., where he acquired a liberal education in the study of the running horse, Frank Sullivan, the noted humorist and an old friend of the family, says, "Bill10 swam into my consciousness when we met in a Saratoga tavern we both favored, ... I too, was born in Saratoga, but never absorbed the racing lore Bill has stored in his cranium." ...
Sports Illustrated
Letter From the Publisher, April 9, 1973, by Jack Meyers, with photo
[This letter is a humorious jab at William10's coverage of baseball and betting.]
... The real difficulty about keeping up with baseball to this degree is that it cuts into Leggett's time for his other serious pursuits, which include horse racing, beer, the making of exotic bets, a family of six and close attention to what might be called creative parsimony - all of the former being somewhat at odds with the latter, ...
Sports Illustrated
Letter From the Publisher, February 23, 1981, by Philp G. Howlett, with photo
[This letter discusses William10's interview techniques.]
... It's nearly impossible to get quotes that aren't recorded by 12 other people, but a person being interviewed in a whisper is unlikely to bellow his answer. SI's Demmie Stathoplos, who often assists Leggett on the racing beat, says, "I have to be practically glued to his side to hear what he and the person being interviewed are saying. In fact, it took me about two years to figure out how Leggett gets his information. First of all, he never appears to be working. This is deceptive - he is a master of the interview. Rather than approach a trainer directly, Bill10 will sort of drift to the man's side and stand there, arms crossed, an unconcerned look on his face. You have to know him well to realize he's asking questions. He has an uncanny ability to talk without moving his lips." ...
[The story goes on about William10's enigmatic betting.]
Sports Illustrated
Letter From the Publisher, August 22, 1983, by Robert L. Miller, with photo
It's August, and everyone at SI knows where Senior Writer William10 Leggett is. Contrary to what Thomas Wolfe said, Leggett can and does go home again, every year. In this case home is Saratoga Springs, N.Y., where each August the NYRA conducts its thoroughbred meet at what is probably the most beautiful racetrack in America. The premier event of the Saratoga meet is the Travers, the oldest continuously run stakes race in America, and for Leggett's story on the 114th Travers, turn to page 66. ... The first time Leggett went to the Saratoga track, he was six years old. He sneaked under a fence. ... By the time Leggett was 16, he was practicing writing during his summers for the Glens Falls, N. Y. Post-Star. He had a mind-boggling schedule. Starting at 7 a.m. he cleaned and swept the Saratoga harness track and then worked on the garbage truck. At 11 he'd bicycle over to the thoroughbred track, park cars until 2, then cover the races for the paper. At 8 p.m. it was back to the harness track to cover the trotters and work for Western Union, sending race results to seven different papers. Sunday afternoons he wrote a horse racing feature for the now-defunct evening Glens Fall Times. "I had to put my story on the 6:30 p.m. bus to Glens Falls," he says, "so it would make the Monday edition. That bus was never on time." ...
The Saratogian, Saratoga Springs, ca August 1996 with photo
WILLIAM10 W. LEGGETT: NOV 30, 1931 - AUG 9, 1996
"Journalism has lost a great talent"
Spa city native is remembered as good friend, respected writer, by Warren Alber
Saratoga Springs - The National Turfwriters Association and the horse racing community lost a tremendous contributor Friday with the death of award-winning writer William10 W. Leggett.
Leggett, a Saratoga Springs native who reached great heights covering horse racing, died Friday at New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens after a prolonged illness. He was 64.
"Journalism has lost a great talent and I have lost one of my closest friends," said Harry Snyder, a commissioner with the New York State Racing Commission who grew up with Leggett. "I am very sorry for his family."
Leggett, born November 30, 1931, was a turfwriter for Sports Illustrated for 30 years - winning an Eclipse Award in 1979 for writing excellence - in addition to covering harness racing, college and professional basketball, baseball and the 1960 U.S. Olympic ice hockey team's upset victory over the Soviet Union for the magazine.
After he retired from Sports Illustrated in 1986, Leggett continued his involvement with his first love - horse racing - as the New York correspondent for The Thoroughbred Times, a weekly turfwritiing newspaper. His other freelance opportunities included a weekly column for The Saratogian's Pink Sheet during the annual summer meet at the Saratoga Race Course.
"He was a class act," said Joe Hirsch, the executive columnist at Daily Racing Form. "I worked with Bill10 for 25 years, and he was a first-class fellow, reporter and gentleman.
"Bill10 was not only knowledgeable with an expertise on racing, but he was a compassionate man who cared about his colleagues and everybody," Hirsch said. "He will be missed more than words can say."
Leggett was a low-key man, and an effective writer with a terrific sense of humor, Hirsch said.
"Bill10 was one of the most able men in our business, respected by everyone," Hirsch said. "I know I'll miss him a lot."
Leggett grew up on Caroline Street, just around the corner from Snyder on Lake Avenue. The boyhood friends went to Saratoga Springs High School together, where Leggett lettered in baseball and basketball.
After graduating in 1951, Leggett went on to earn his degree at Seton Hall in 1955. After college and a brief stint in the Army, Snyder said Leggett got in on the ground floor at Sports Illustrated.
He began working at Sports Illustrated in 1955 when he was a football stringer. He went on to become a baseball reporter, horse racing reporter and finally Turf Editor.
While working for Sports Illustrated, Leggett and his wife, Jane, settled in Flushing, where he lived most of his adult life. They had four daughters and a son.
In 1993, Leggett was one of eight inaugural members of the Saratoga Springs Sports Hall of Fame.
LEGGETT: Friends remember longtime turfwriter for contributions
"He came from a small town and had a link worldwide," Saratoga Springs Hall of Fame founder Rich Johns said. "Saratoga is fortunate to have a home-grown person go on to be a writer for the nationally renowned Sports Illustrated, but Bill10 always maintained an appreciation for Saratoga Springs.
"I remember on the night of his induction, he recalled so many important times growing up in Saratoga," said Johns, who knew Leggett only through the Sports Hall of Fame. "Saratoga was very much a part of his life, as was shown by his fond memories."
Just as much a part of his life as horse racing.
Leggett got his start at Sports Illustrated when Whitney Tower, a turfwriter for the magazine, took on Leggett as a researcher.
"He had a tremendous knowledge of thoroughbred racing." said Tower, who worked with Leggett at SI for nearly 20 years and is now Chairman of the Board at the National Museum of Thoroughbred Racing and Hall of Fame. "He was an exceptional young man, a great talent, and he contributed a lot to the success of Sports Illustrated."
Tower said Leggett was very well-known in racing circles.
"He knew his way around, and he had friends in the writing fraternity and in the racing fraternity," Tower said. "The trainers respected him. He was very popular."
Leggett would come back to Sararoga every summer during the month prior to the racing season, but he would never stay for the meet, opting instead to return to his home base in Flushing.
"I am a relative newcomer to American racing," said Neil Cook, Editor in Chief at Daily Racing Form, "but I learned very quickly that Bill10 had a lot of class as a person, and that was reflected in his work."
"He helped a lot of members on our staff, he was a tutor for other racing journalists," Cook said. "He's up there in Division I of the turfwriters."
Leggett is survived by his wife, Jane; daughters Eileen30a-g11Le16, Patricia30b-g11Le16, Maureen30c-g11Le16 and Susan30d-g11Le16 Mary; his son William30e-g11Le16; sister Marian40b-g10Le16 Flynn and two grandchildren.
A funeral Mass is at 9:45 a.m. Tuesday at Mary's Nativity Roman Catholic Church in Flushing. Burial will be in St. John's Cemetery in Maspeth.
Calling hours are from 2 to 5 and 7 to 9:30p.m. Sunday and Monday at the Quinn-Fogarty Funeral Home, 162-14 Sanford Ave., Flushing.
The Saratogian, Saratoga Springs, ca August 1996
[-----Original Message-----
From: azetter@verizon.net [mailto:azetter@verizon.net]
Sent: Friday, August 01, 2008 7:55 PM
To: Leggett, David
Subject: William W. Leggett died 1996
David,
You already have this obit in your database, but you're missing some detail, such as the date of publication,
August 10, 1996 Saratogian newspaper.
Alice]
William10 Leggett
Queens - William10 W. Leggett died Friday, August 9, at New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens. He was 64.
Mr. Leggett was born November 1931. He was the son of Elmer40-g9Le16 and Helen Lally Leggett.
He graduated from Saratoga Springs High School in 1951 and Seton Hall in 1955.
He began working at Sports Illustrated in 1955 as a part-time football reporter. He proceeded to become a baseball reporter, a horse-racing reporter and then turf editor at Sports Illustrated. For the last five years, Mr. Leggett worked as a free-lancer for The Saratogian during racing season.
In 1993, he was inducted into the Saratoga Springs Sports Hall of Fame.
He is survived by four daughters, Eileen30a-g11Le16, Patrica30b-g11Le16, Maureen30c-g11Le16 and Susan30d-g11Le16 Mary; one son, William30e-g11Le16 Leggett; a sister, Marian10 Flynn; one grandson; and one granddaughter.
A funeral Mass is 9:45 a.m. Tuesday at Mary's Nativity Roman Catholic Church in Flushing. Burial will be in St. John's Cemetery in Maspeth.
Calling hours are 2 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 9:30 p.m. Sunday and Monday at Quinn-Fogarty Funeral Home, 162-14 Sanford Ave., Flushing.
Post Star, Glens Falls, ca August 10, 1996
SI's Leggett dies
William10 Leggett, who won an Eclipse Award in 1979 for his coverage of thoroughbred racing during a 30-year career at Sports Illustrated, died yesterday from complications due to a short illness. He was 64.
Leggett, who also covered the sport for The Racing Times and most recently The Thoroughbred Times, was a native of Saratoga Springs. A graduate of Seton Hall, Leggett was a former president of both the National Turf Writers Association and the New York Turf Writers Association.
Visitation will be held tomorrow and Monday from 2 to 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at Quinn's Funeral Home at 162-14 Sandford Ave. in Flushing. A funeral service will be held at Mary's Nativity Roman Catholic Church on Parson's Blvd. and 46th Ave. in Flushing Tuesday at 9:45 a.m.
Leggett is survived by his wife Jane, daughter Eileen30a-g11Le16, Patricia30b-g11Le16, Maureen30c-g11Le16 and Susan30d-g11Le161, and son Bill30e-g11Le16.
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<b>William Leggett
</b> in the New York, New York, Marriage License Indexes, 1907-2018
Name: William Leggett
Gender: Male
Marriage License Date: 1958
Marriage License Place: Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
Spouse: Jane Hinch
License Number: 16630
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The New York Times, 10 August 1996
Deaths
LEGGETT-William W. On August 9. Beloved husband of Jane (nee Hinch). Loving father of Eileen, Patricia, Maureen, Susan Mary and William. Dear brother of Marian Flynn. Cherished grandfather of Brendan and Colleen. Reposing Quinn-Fogarty Funeral Home, 16244 Sonford Avenue, Flushing, New York. Visitation Sunday and on Monday, 2-5 and 7-9:30 P.M. Funeral Mass Tuesday, 9:45 A.M. Mary’s Nativity R.C. Church. Interment St. John’s Cemetery.
Note: * 40a-g10Le16 William10 W. Leggett (Elmer9 W., Willis8 H., J. Nelson7, B
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