Mike Downey (August 9, 1951 – June 12, 2024) was an American newspaper columnist. He was known for his columns in the

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

area, such as writing pieces for the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'', the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'' and ''

Chicago Daily News The ''Chicago Daily News'' was an afternoon daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, published between 1875 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois. History The ''Daily News'' was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Dougherty ...

''. In his later years, he began writing for the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' and

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

Career

Downey began a career in journalism at age 15 for a newspaper chain in the south suburbs of

. Over the following years he was a police reporter, entertainment writer, editor, critic and columnist and covered national political conventions, murder trials and twelve Olympic Games. Among his assignments, were an

America's Cup The America's Cup is a sailing competition and the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one from the yacht club that currently holds the trophy (known ...

yacht race in Australia, tennis at Wimbledon, British Open golf in Scotland, the Tour de France bicycle race, Stanley Cup hockey finals in Montreal and World Cup soccer in Italy, as well as Pan-American Games competitions in Argentina and Cuba. He also was a columnist for ''

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 ''

Sport Magazine ''Sport'' was an American sports magazine. Launched in September 1946 by New York–based publisher Macfadden Publications, ''Sport'' pioneered the generous use of color photography—it carried eight full-color plates in its first edition. ''S ...

'' and for 15 years wrote a humor column for ''

Inside Sports ''Inside Sports'' magazine was a major general interest sports magazine in the United States. Launched in 1979 by Newsweek, it was designed as an edgier, monthly alternative to the longer-running ''Sports Illustrated'' and '' SPORT Magazine'' br ...

'' magazine known as "The Good Doctor." He was a featured sports correspondent for KABC radio in Los Angeles and for WJR radio in Detroit and was often a panelist on

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

television's weekly talk show, ''

The Sports Reporters ''The Sports Reporters'' is a sports talk show that aired on ESPN at 9:30 a.m. ET every Sunday morning (and replayed at 10:30 a.m. ET the same day on ESPN2 and 11:30 AM on ESPNews). It featured a roundtable discussion among four sports ...

''. He was a voter for the

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United S ...

. From 2003 to 2008, Downey wrote the "In the Wake of the News" column for the ''

'' originated by

Ring Lardner Ringgold Wilmer Lardner (March 6, 1885 – September 25, 1933) was an American sports columnist and short story writer best known for his satirical writings on sports, marriage, and the theatre. His contemporaries—Ernest Hemingway, Virginia W ...

in 1913, replacing

Skip Bayless Skip Bayless (born John Edward Bayless II; born December 4, 1951) is an American sports columnist, commentator, and television personality. He is well-known for his work as a commentator on the ESPN2 show '' First Take'' with Stephen A. Smith, ...

in that position at the Tribune. He was also a columnist in news, entertainment and sports for the ''

'', ''

Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' (commonly referred to as the ''Freep'') is a major daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest local newspaper owned by Gannett (the publisher of ''USA Today''), and is operated by the Detro ...

'', ''

'' and ''

''. He was included as a character in the

Elmore Leonard Elmore John Leonard Jr. (October 11, 1925August 20, 2013) was an American novelist, short story author and screenwriter. He was, according to British journalist Anthony Lane, "hailed as one of the best crime writers in the land". His earliest no ...

novel ''Be Cool''. In retirement, he wrote book reviews for the ''Times'' and columns for CNN.com.

Recognition

In statewide voting by peers, Downey was selected National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association sportswriter of the year eleven times: in Illinois (twice), Michigan (twice) and California (seven times). He was honored for his news column by the Los Angeles Press Club in 1998 and won the 1994 Eclipse Award, thoroughbred racing's highest honor. Downey's writing appeared in a variety of national magazines including '' GQ'', ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually some variety ...

'', ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'', ''

Disney Adventures ''Disney Adventures'' (also short-formed as ''D.A.'') was an American children's entertainment and educational magazine published twelve (later ten) times per year by Disney Publishing Worldwide, a subsidiary of Disney Consumer Products, a unit ...

'', ''

American Way The American way of life or the American way is the U.S. nationalist ethos that adheres to the principle of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. At the center of the American way is the belief in an American Dream that is claimed to be ...

'', ''

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...

'' and ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

''.

Personal life

Downey was born in

Chicago Heights, Illinois Chicago Heights is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 27,480 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A south suburb of Chicago, it is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. Its nicknames include "The Cro ...

, on August 9, 1951. He graduated at 16 from Bloom Township High School in Chicago Heights. Downey resided in

Rancho Mirage, California Rancho Mirage is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. The city is a low-density desert community with resorts, golf courses, and country clubs within the Colorado Desert section of the Sonoran Desert. Nestled along the foothil ...

. He was married to singer Gail Martin, daughter of the entertainer

Dean Martin Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor, and comedian. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Cool", he is regarded as one of the most popular entertainers of ...

. Downey died from a heart attack in Rancho Mirage, on June 12, 2024, at the age of 72.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Downey, Mike 1951 births 2024 deaths American columnists American humorous columnists Journalists from Chicago Chicago Sun-Times people Sportspeople from the Chicago metropolitan area Detroit Free Press people Chicago Daily News people Los Angeles Times people People from Chicago Heights, Illinois People from Steger, Illinois Sportswriters from Illinois Bloom High School alumni