Hal Wood saw a potential for sports in Hawai'i
By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Staff Writer
Returning to the office one day from covering the Hawaiian Open, Hal Wood lowered his voice and, in a mock conspiratorial tone, told his staff, "Don't tell anybody, but writing about sports in Hawai'i has to be the best job in journalism."
Advertiser library photo • May 26, 1976
In a newspaper and wire service career that spanned 57 years and much of the globe, Wood covered it all — the birth of the United Nations, 20 Rose Bowls, six Olympiads, several Super Bowls, World Series and championship fights — but he would call his 12 years as sports editor of The Honolulu Advertiser, "the happiest of my life."
Retiring Advertiser sports editor Hal Wood acknowledged the crowd at "Hal Wood Night" at a 1976 Hawaii Islanders baseball game.
Wood, who died yesterday in Medford, Ore., at age 92, brought a worldwide perspective, a keen competitive edge and a polished enthusiasm to The Advertiser's sports pages as the paper's sports editor and lead columnist between 1965 and 1976.
"He was one of the best in the business, no question about it," said former Honolulu Mayor Frank Fasi. "I didn't always agree with him and he didn't always agree with me, but he told it as it was and I appreciated that."
Wood's seat on press row at the Honolulu International Center, as the Blaisdell Center was called in the 1970s, was adjacent to the mayor's courtside seats. "I'd give it to him and he'd give it right back," Fasi recalled.
Wood saw a potential for sports here shared by few others. He was a strong backer of then-Gov. John Burns' vision for a 50,000-seat stadium in Halawa and a Division I University of Hawai'i football program to put in it. He was an ardent supporter of sports-based tourism through the Hawaiian Open and the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament.
"He was a dear friend to me and the university," said Paul Durham, a former UH athletic director.
Under his leadership and with Wood often pitching in to do some of the legwork, The Advertiser broke several major stories, including the scandal that led to the Rainbows being put on NCAA probation in 1977.
"He was very meticulous, very thorough and it was fun being a rival with him all those years," said Bill Kwon who was a columnist and sports editor for the Star-Bulletin at the time.
George Chaplin, the editor who hired him, said Wood, "brought a national and international view to our pages." Yet, Kwon said, "he never skimped on the local coverage or the high schools, either."
"He was the complete newspaperman, a real pro who could do it all," said Ferd Borsch, The Advertiser's baseball writer for 40 years. "All of us felt very fortunate to work for somebody that talented and compassionate."
"What will always stay with me was his work ethic," said Clyde Mizumoto, an Advertiser assistant sports editor who was hired by Wood. "People thought all he did was write a column, but he did a lot more than that — he'd clear the wires, take care of administrative duties and, on top of that, write a daily column. I thought he set a good example for the new guys coming in."
Wood also mentored young writers. "He was my coach, so to speak, teaching me the ropes in sports," said Gordon Sakamoto who was a writer with United Press International in San Francisco before later becoming bureau chief for UPI and the Associated Press in Honolulu.
Wood's byline was familiar to Advertiser readers even before he came to the paper through his 20 years with United Press International, 16 as Pacific Division sports editor. He gained notoriety in 1962 as the only writer to predict before the start of the baseball season that the Dodgers and Giants would finish in a tie for the National League title.
Wood also worked at newspapers in North Dakota, Idaho and San Diego. He was born into a newspaper family in Hamilton, N.D., beginning what would become a life-long career in journalism at his father's newspaper in Neche, N.D.
As a freshly minted high school graduate in 1932, he talked his way into the press box at the Los Angeles Olympics as a correspondent for the family paper and never looked back.
"He was an outstanding sports editor, the best we've seen the last few decades," said Peter Fithian, founder of the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament.
"He brought tremendous knowledge and enthusiasm to the paper," said sportscaster Les Keiter.
Wood is survived by four daughters, Melissa Wood of Medford, Ore., Sharon Lindsay of Ashland, Ore., Romana Wood of Vancouver, Wash., and Laura Horton of Santa Rosa, Calif., five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Services are pending.
