Bill Livingston

Cleveland Plain Dealer Sportswriter Bill Livingston, who is being let go as
a freelance writer at the paper today following 34 years at the Plain Dealer
and 47 1/2 years as a sportswriter in Dallas, Philadelphia and Cleveland.  As
with many on Facebook, I consider Bill a "Friend Not Yet Met" Outstanding
writer and person with a great family.  Photo courtesy Cleveland .com and the
Plain Dealer.

I said I would write on different subjects along the way.  This is about a one of a kind sports writer

 
     One of my favorite pastimes before the Internet used to be when I was out and about, buying up to
a half-dozen Newspapers some days and having lunch at a restaurant and read the papers, one by one.
While I would scan the news and read some of the biggest stories of the day My special interests were in the Sports and TV/Radio sections, especially if there were local stories and columns,  Northeast Ohio has been fortunate to have some extremely talented Sports and Media Writers over the years.  One of these was/is Bill Livingston, Sports columnist of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.


     A Dallas, Texas Native, Bill spent some time at the Philadelphia Inquirer, mostly covering the NBA Philadelphia 76ers beat before coming to Cleveland in 1984..He has covered most of the major sports stories in Cleveland, including the Cavaliers NBA title in 2016 and also Ohio State Football.

     The reason I am writing about Mr. Livingston today is that a few months ago he decided to retire following cutbacks at the Plain Dealer but still remained as a freelance writer..Today we find out that the "PD" as the paper is known, has now cut back on freelance writers as well, forcing  Mr. Livingston out of the Plain Dealer entirely.  While this seems totally wrong, I hope Bill finds another outlet for his chosen profession.

I have been privileged to be a Facebook Friend of Bill's for a few years now and while I don't always agree with him on things,  I have become amazed at the depth he has as a writer, even beyond the sports section.  Unfortunately cutbacks like this are happening all over the print media world.  Newspapers are a shadow of what they once were..As a High School Sports Writer in my 1975-76 Senior Year at Sandy Valley High School, I find that very sad indeed..


     I wish nothing but the best for Mr. Livingston in the future and hope again, he finds a good outlet, even after 47 and 1/2 years, to continue to write..We need folks of his caliber to continue to go on as long as possible.

Bill Livingston's last regular column in the Cleveland Plain Dealer July 6, 2018.

Reason for the Blog Title

     I just wanted to quickly explain why the title for the blog;  It's All of Grace"

About a year ago (late 2017) I was privileged to sing a song during our church's
New Year's Eve Service called "New Grace" by Evangelist and Songwriter Bro,
Tom Hayes of Saluda, North Carolina..The first line of the song goes "All of Grace is My Story..All the way from Earth to Glory"

Also in recent weeks and months the Pastor of my home church (Fellowship Baptist Church in Canton, Oh.) Tim Brown has preached and taught often of the Grace of God..The whole thing just came together..

Hello All:

Me and my dear wife Linda in our engagement
picture.  She has been a rock to me in over 26 years
of marriage.  She deserves a medal for putting up with
this cranky old man at times.:)

      Hello:
          I have had someone ask me why do a blog when you post your whole life pretty much on
Facebook?  That is actually an excellent question.  While I enjoy immensely being on Facebook
I feel somewhat limited in being able to express myself on there because I frankly don't feel like
having controversy and hurt feelings because someone thinks a different way than I do.  Here, I can pretty much say what I want and unless one wants to disagree with me in comments or even on Facebook or other means then It's okay by me.  I also want to bless people with Scripture or Music,
or encourage them with stories about our daily life (hopefully not too boring)

     This blog will be open ended in that most subjects are fair game as far as what I post.  I also
will be open ended about when I post.  Probably no more than 3 times a week.  I want to thank everyone for encouraging me in this new venture and pray it is a blessing and encouragement to
Others.