A longtime sports buff, Lawrence “Larry” Gross spent his childhood in Salem, New Jersey playing sports and writing about it. Nothing excited him more than baseball, and his dream was to be a sportswriter, his sister, Faye Jones, told the Defen
A longtime sports buff, Lawrence “Larry” Gross spent his childhood in Salem, New Jersey playing sports and writing about it.
Nothing excited him more than baseball and his dream was to be a sportswriter, his sister, Faye Jones, told the Defender.
“He was a caring, passionate man who loved going to sporting events and informing others. Outside of his daughter and two grandsons, that’s all that mattered to him, writing about sports,” Jones said.
Gross, an award-winning sports editor and writer for the Chicago Defender for the last 22 years, died Feb. 11 after a short battle with lung cancer. He was 59.
The Vietnam War veteran wrote about sports for "Today’s Sunbeam" and "Gloucester County Times" newspapers in New Jersey before coming to Chicago in 1979. He joined the Defender in 1987 as a police reporter before joining the sports department shortly thereafter.
He covered every possible kind of sporting event for the newspaper and was especially proud of his coverage of prep sports––particularly Chicago Public Schools––and was a champion for the newspaper’s coverage of Little League baseball.
Gross also cherished his membership in the Baseball Writers Association of America.
“Larry’s passion was writing sports. Even when he was very, very ill, he came into the office to put together the sports pages. He said working on sports was what kept him going,” said Lou Ransom, the Defender’s executive editor. “He was a walking encyclopedia of sports information, particularly baseball, which was his love.”
Current and former colleagues also recalled Gross’ love for sports.
Defender staff photographer Darrell "Worsom" Robinson often teamed with Gross at sporting events.
Robinson said it was never boring when Gross was around, and he was always the consummate professional.
“He knew his stuff. You could call out any year and ask what happened with the Cubs that year and Larry would immediately tell you,” Robinson said, adding that Gross never left home without his Cubs or Chicago Bulls press pass.
Theresa Fambro Hooks, Defender society columnist, said, “Larry was a trivia buff and knew every answer that was on the game show “Jeopardy!” when we watched it in the newsroom of the old building (24th Street and Michigan Avenue). And no one dared go up against him when it dealt with sports trivia, especially baseball. He was great with statistics, especially when it came to the Chicago Cubs.”
A public viewing will be held Feb. 18 from 2 p.m. to 8 p.. at Gaitlings Chapel, 10133 S. Halsted St..
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