Williard (Invoice) Christine Jr., a a number of award-winning journalist who spent 23 years protecting horse racing for the Los Angeles Occasions, died on Monday (Aug. 25) after being recognized with acute myeloid leukemia three years in the past. He died at his residence in Hermosa Seaside, with household by his facet. He was 87.
Former Los Angeles Occasions reporter Invoice Christine.
(Christine household)
Christine gained Eclipse Awards for excellent writing about horse racing, in 1984 and 2004. In 2000, he was given Walter Haight Award for profession excellence in turf writing. He gained the David F. Woods Memorial Award in 1991 and 1992 for his protection of the Preakness Stakes.
He was additionally president of the Nationwide Turf Writers and Broadcasters, a bunch that additionally consists of public relations individuals, from 1990 to 1992.
“Bill was an old school journalist,” mentioned Mike Willman the previous longtime media relations govt at Santa Anita. “He kept copious notes and was a contrarian by nature. He was fair and extremely knowledgeable.
“He really enjoyed being around the people in racing. You could take issue with something he wrote and then debate it and there was never any animus. I really respected him for that.”
It was then that he switched to public relations taking the highest media job at Commodore Downs in Pennsylvania, adopted by 4 years because the assistant to the chief vp on the Nationwide Thoroughbred Racing Assn.
The Occasions hardly ever hires individuals from the general public relations facet, however then sports activities editor Invoice Dwyre determined to take an opportunity.
“Bill Christine was my first hire as sports editor of The Times, and being the first, it was a big deal not only for me, but for people watching me and trying to figure out what I was thinking and how I would cover each sport,” mentioned Dwyre, who later went on to cowl horse racing for The Occasions.
Former Los Angeles Occasions reporter Invoice Christine receives an Eclipse Award honoring his horse racing reporting.
(Christine household)
“When he came to The Times, Santa Anita and Hollywood Park and Del Mar were booming and he worked tirelessly to give the sport the coverage it deserved.”
Bob Mieszerski, who has reported and handicapped horse racing in Southern California for a few years and labored alongside Christine after Mieszerski got here to the Occasions and added a full web page of racing every day, echoed Dwyre’s sentiment about his skills and presence.
“He was very welcoming to me when I joined the Times and I always appreciated that,” Mieszerski mentioned. “He was a great storyteller and I Ioved hearing him recall anecdotes about different people — both in and out of racing — that he encountered.”
Dan Smith, the retired advertising and media head at Del Mar, remembers Christine for his very distinctive chortle.
“It was like ghee, ghee, ghee,” Smith mentioned struggling to duplicate the sound. “It was very distinctive and very unique.
“He was also a big movie buff. He and his wife went to a lot of movies. And we loved to discuss movies. He followed all of that very closely.”
Christine was identified for his robust opinions, which typically put him at odds with the individuals he coated.
Christine’s most notable feud was with Wayne Lukas, who didn’t converse to the reporter for a number of years after one thing Christine wrote.
“He wasn’t reluctant to discuss his opinions, which a lot of people didn’t agree with, but that was OK,” Smith mentioned.
Dwyre, who would typically change beats yearly, as soon as provided Christine the Dodgers job, arguably the most effective job within the division, as a result of Christine had been complaining about needing one thing new. However in the long run, Christine determined he would reasonably cowl racing.
“He really knew his baseball and had a Hall of Fame ballot,” Willman remembers. “You might have your own opinion and if it disagreed with Bill’s, he had all the ammunition to show you why he was right.”
Even when Christine’s every day protection was typically buried on a web page deep within the part, surrounded by handicapping and small-type outcomes, Christine would rise to the event and offer you a nicely crafted non-obvious story.
“I remember often doing critiques for my staff, especially those who had put out the previous morning’s paper,” Dwyre mentioned. “I would hold up the sports section and ask which story that was in the section should have been on the front page and wasn’t. Invariably, it was a Christine horse racing story.”
The press field at Del Mar, named in honor of Dan Smith, has a wall the place the images of deceased turf writers go.
“I guess his picture will go on the wall soon,” Smith mentioned. “We’ve still got a few spots left and hope we don’t fill them anytime soon.”
Christine is survived by his spouse of 43 years, Pat, and two twin daughters, Laura and Leslie, his first spouse, Dianne, and stepson Chris.
Christine requested that his physique be donated to USC for medical analysis. After the cremains are returned, there can be a small celebration of life.
