Daniel Leo Monahan (December 13, 1926 – March 27, 2013) was an American sportswriter. He became a full-time journalist in 1950, and had a career which lasted 30 years combined with the ''Daily Record'', the ''Record American'', and the ''Herald American'' which then merged into the ''

Boston Herald The ''Boston Herald'' is an American conservative daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarde ...

''. He later contributed to ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' and the ''

Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...

'', and served as the director of information at the

University of Massachusetts Boston The University of Massachusetts Boston (stylized as UMass Boston) is a Public university, public US-based research university. It is the only public research university in Boston and the third-largest campus in the five-campus University of Ma ...

. He traveled with and reported on the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

, and was recognized with the

Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award The Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award is an accolade presented annually to a print newspaper columnist or reporter in recognition of their achievements covering the game of ice hockey. The award is "to recognize distinguished members of the newspap ...

from the

Hockey Hall of Fame The Hockey Hall of Fame () is a museum and hall of fame located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League (NHL) records, memorabilia and National Hockey Le ...

for his journalism.

Early life

Daniel Leo Monahan was born on December 13, 1926, in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Massachusetts. His father Daniel Monahan was a printer for the ''

Boston Evening Transcript The ''Boston Evening Transcript'' was a daily afternoon newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts, published for over a century from July 24, 1830, to April 30, 1941. History Founding ''The Transcript'' was founded in 1830 by Henry Dutton and James We ...

'', and died when Monahan was 11 years old. He grew up in

South Boston South Boston (colloquially known as Southie) is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay (Boston Harbor), Dorchester Bay. It has under ...

, started delivering a paper route at age 14, and worked a 20-hour shift on weekends as a

copy boy A copy boy is a typically young and junior worker on a newspaper. The job involves taking typed stories from one section of a newspaper to another. According to Bruce Guthrie, the former editor-in-chief of the ''Herald Sun'' who began work there ...

at the '' Daily Record''. He enlisted in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

at age 17, and served for two years during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war, he attended

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

supported by

G.I. Bill The G.I. Bill, formally the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I. (military), G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in ...

. He met his future wife Stella Frechette while dancing at

Harvard Square Harvard Square is a triangular plaza at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue (Boston), Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street (Cambridge, Massachusetts), Brattle Street and John F. Kennedy Street near the center of Cambridge, Massachusetts, C ...

in 1947. He graduated in 1950, and the couple married later in the same year.

Career

Monahan became a full-time journalist in 1950. He adopted the name "D. Leo Monahan" to distinguish himself from similarly named writers, and jokingly said the initial "D" stood for "dazzling". Monahan's career as a journalist lasted 30 years combined with the ''Daily Record'', the ''Record American'', and the ''Herald American'' which then merged into the ''

''. His younger brother Bob Monahan wrote on college hockey for ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

''. In 1958, he and

Lynn Patrick Joseph Lynn Patrick (February 3, 1912 – January 26, 1980) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and executive. As a player, Patrick played ten seasons in the National Hockey League for the New York Rangers. He was twice named to the NHL ...

co-published the book ''Let's Play Hockey!'' Monahan also contributed to ''

'' as a correspondent for Boston, and recommended fellow ''Boston Globr'' journalist Mark Mulvoy as a columnist at ''Sports Illustrated''. Monahan was later a columnist for the ''

'', and served as the director of information at the

from December 1980 onwards. Monahan traveled with the

on overnight train trips between games, and the younger writers were given the upper bunk for sleeping. He became friends with Bruins' player

Milt Schmidt Milton Conrad Schmidt (March 5, 1918 – January 4, 2017) was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre, coach and general manager, mostly for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL), where he was a member of the Kraut Line. He w ...

who said that, Monahan "was fair and he did not interrupt his writing with our friendship". One train ride Schmidt recalled that, "Leo was in the berth above me and I was down below. Throughout the night, he told me, he did not move for fear he would do something that would keep me awake". Monahan described himself as a person who wrote his own opinions instead of just good publicity for any team he covered. He received the

from the

in 1986, in recognition of his hockey journalism as chosen by the

Professional Hockey Writers' Association The Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA) is a North American professional association for ice hockey journalists writing for newspapers, magazines and websites. The PHWA was founded in 1967 and has approximately 180 voting members. The ...

. Fellow sports journalist

Bob Ryan Robert P. Ryan (born February 21, 1946) is an American sportswriter, formerly with ''The Boston Globe'', and author. He has been described as "the quintessential American sportswriter" and a basketball guru, and is well known for his coverage o ...

described Monahan by saying, "His deep love for the sport resonated in every sentence and paragraph. He was a very strong personality, for sure, and extremely opinionated". According to Monahan's daughter, he used a manual typewriter for his career and frequently stated he did not like to use electronic typewriters or computers.

Later life

Monahan retired from journalism in the mid-1990s then lived in

Belmont, Massachusetts Belmont is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a western suburb of Boston and is part of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, its population was 27,295, an increase of 10.4% from 2010. H ...

. He was married for 49 years and had four daughters. He died at his home on March 27, 2013, due to complications from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

. He was interred at St. Patrick's Cemetery in

Watertown, Massachusetts Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, part of Greater Boston. The population was 35,329 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Its neighborhoods include Bemis, Coolidge Square, East Watertown, Watertown Sq ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Monahan, Leo 1926 births 2013 deaths 20th-century American journalists American male journalists Boston College alumni Boston Herald people Deaths from Parkinson's disease in Massachusetts Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award recipients Journalists from Boston Military personnel from Massachusetts People from Belmont, Massachusetts People from South Boston Sports Illustrated people Sportswriters from Massachusetts United States Navy personnel of World War II University of Massachusetts Boston faculty