Longtime News hockey writer Johnston dies
When people thought of Richard W. "Dick" Johnston, one word often came to mind: professional.
The longtime hockey writer for The Buffalo Evening News died of natural causes Thursday night in Boston, Mass. He was 89.
The Buffalo-born writer and Lafayette High School graduate was well-known locally for his coverage of the Buffalo Sabres, which ran from the team's first game in 1970 through his retirement in 1984. Johnston received the Elmer Ferguson Award, presented by the Hockey Hall of Fame to a top journalist, in 1986. He was inducted into the Sabres Hall of Fame in 2004.
Those who worked with him and knew him over his long career in journalism were particularly impressed by Johnston's class and dignity.
"The simple title "reporter' sometimes becomes blurred in the era of bloggers, contributors and other specialists of modern journalism, but that's what Dick Johnston was … a thorough professional who provided the reader with unvarnished, solid and thorough sports news stories," said Larry Felser, former sports editor and columnist at the News.
"Of all the journalists I worked with over the last 50 years, Dick Johnston was the ultimate professional … thorough, informed and diligent," said News sports writer Milt Northrop. "You could always count on him to be there and get the story, and write it - not in a flashy way, but in a thorough and informative way whether it was the hockey Bisons, the Sabres, UB, Buffalo State or the BBMG (Buffalo Boy Makes Good) college column. Dick didn't write for effect or crave the big scoop, but he seldom got scooped."
Johnston wrote for The News on temporary assignments while a student at Cornell University in 1939, from which he was graduated in 1941. He earned $20 a week when he first started on July 21, 1941. A year later he joined the U.S. Army as a private in June 1942 and served until February 1946, when he was discharged as a captain. The News hired him again after his discharge, and he worked at the paper until 1984, retiring at the age of 65.
Much of that time was spent on the hockey beat, first with the American Hockey League's Buffalo Bisons starting in 1966 and then with the Sabres when they entered the National Hockey League.
"I got to know Dick long before the Sabres came into existence in 1970 as the Bisons trained in Welland, Ont., in the 1960s," said Wayne Redshaw, a hockey writer for the Welland Tribune and a fellow member of the Sabres' Hall of Fame. "I got to cover their training camp and even covered a number of games in the old Aud.
"Being relatively new in the early years, Dick was always helpful when he came to Welland to cover training camp for The News. He went out of his way to introduce me to players and Bisons' brass so I could interview them. He was the same when I started covering the Sabres. His job came first but he was always helpful."
That attitude extended into the office, where he always was an asset to the newspaper's staff.
"Dick was always a gentleman, quick to ask about your family and always sincere," said Steve Jones, Sports Editor of The News. "He was polite but forceful. In those days, reporters came back to the office from the Aud and Dick would hang up his sports jacket (he always dressed like a gentleman, too), plunk himself down in the corner and pound out the story. He would identify players for photographers, answer the phone and still turn in clean copy, always on time. The consummate reporter, he never became part of the story; he just told you what he saw."
"Dick was a wonderful reporter and a real gentleman," said Howard Smith, Managing Editor of The News and formerly the newspaper's Executive Sports Editor. "If you can keep your poise and maintain your professionalism while fencing with Scotty Bowman over a period of years, you have to be special. And Dick was."
Covering a professional sports team can lead to adversarial relationships, but Johnston always walked a line in order to maintain proper balance.
"The tough part," Johnston once said his job, "is being friendly enough with the players and coaches so they trust you, but not to become so close that you might cover up for them, consciously or unconsciously."
Indeed, representatives of the Sabres from the past and present were quick to praise him upon hearing of his passing.
"Dick was always a gentleman, and a gentle man," said Paul Wieland, who worked for the Sabres' communications department for the first 25 years of the team's existance. "He believed in honesty, accuracy and attention to detail, and since he was always writing his game stories second, had to find the feature element. That's a tough job in newspaper journalism, and he did it exceptionally well. He never was afraid to admit he needed to learn, but he taught me that integrity and grit are two of the most important qualities in a man."
"I knew Dick Johnston very well," Sabres managing partner Larry Quinn said. "As a 10-year-old boy, he was my baseball manager when I played for the Milwaukee Braves of the Central Amherst Little League. I had the utmost respect for him as a person and journalist. He was a true gentleman in the field of sports journalism."
Along the way, Johnson received numerous honors for his work, including several Page One Awards from the American Newspaper Guild. He received the Ben Mintz Award from Cornell University for distinguished reporting in the field of intercollegiate athletics.
Northrop described Johnston as "a devoted family guy. He and his wife Ginny [Virginia] lived in a small, tidy home in Snyder. Sons Rich and Pete were both Cornell graduates."
Johnston was an avid tennis player, and many remember him for bringing a tennis racquet with him when he went on road trips to cover the Sabres. Johnston also played a solid second base on the company softball team well into his 50s.
"He was also a superb companion on the road, especially during the hockey playoffs where I was often with him over a period of weeks. His range of knowledge and opinions about everything from politics to Panama, where he was stationed as an Army officer during World War II, made each dinner we shared an event to savor," Felser said.
After almost 40 years at the News, Johnston packed up his typewriter and moved to Florida to enjoy retirement.
"He loved what he did but felt he retired at the right time, while he was still on top of his game," his son Richard told The News by phone.
Jim Kelley replaced Johnston on the Sabres' beat for The News - and, as could be expected, said Dick was a tough act to follow.
"Dick had his pulse on every Sabres moment," Kelley said. "He was there through every step of the process to bring the NHL to Buffalo. He had great sources, the likes of which could never be equaled. I remember one night he called me in the press box [from his home] to tell me something that was going on with the club behind the scenes and I couldn't believe it. I was there and hadn't heard a word about it and he was at home, giving me all the details, every one of which proved to be right."
Johnston spent 21 years in Florida, and moved to Boston in 2005 to be closer to Richard. Dick and Ginny celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in October. He is also survived by son, Peter, of East Bernard, Texas.
A service is planned for noon Sunday at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Mass.
"He cared about his job, but he also cared about being a professional in his job," Kelley summarized. "He had standards and he would not deviate from them. The profession has changed a lot since I first came into it, but the things he taught me - fairness, accuracy, fair play - were the codes he lived by."
"Dick Johnston made his mark on the Buffalo sports scene," Redshaw said. "He was a one-of-a-kind sportswriter, honest and sincere."
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