A sports fan's friend: Free Press' George Puscas dies at 81
Chris
BY MATT FIORITO . FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER . April 27, 2008
He was a dandy, eh?
George Puscas, a former sports editor and longtime Free Press columnist who
covered Detroit sports for decades and covered them well, died of congestive
heart failure Friday at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Pontiac. He was 81.
But for all of the memorable stories and columns he wrote -- the Lions' last
championship and Tommy Hearns' fantastic fights were highlights -- Puscas,
of Beverly Hills, will be remembered best for a column in which he let the
readers do most of the work.
His Love Letters of a Sports Writer was a staple in the Free Press for
almost 50 years, continuing for 14 years after his "official" retirement in
1992.
The reader comments, in letter form, were answered cryptically, acerbically,
sarcastically and wittily by Puscas, and readers loved it. It gave thousands
of them the chance to get their names in the paper, but most important, to
receive a Love Letters lapel pin for having their missives published.
The tagline on the column was one of the most famous catch phrases in
Detroit sports history.
Dandies, eh? Those smart, dashing LL lapel pins are gifts to all whose
sparkling thoughts appear here. Send your sports beefs or bouquets to Love
Letters, Detroit Free Press.
And in any given column, Puscas would "make it the usual 8-1 odds" and take
someone's bet for a "yard of kielbasa" on the chances of all sorts of
improbable things, such as the Lions' winning another championship.
His last Love Letters column ran May 9, 2006.
Puscas wrote:
"So this is it. That's all there is. Nothing left.
"Nothing left to do, nothing left to say.
"All done. Sixty-five years' worth. Imagine that."
"It was his real retirement.
Puscas began at the Free Press at 14, running copy and fetching coffee in
the sports department through his years in high school. He joined the Army
in time to finish World War II, then returned to the Freep.
"And here I am 65 years later with nothing left to say or do," he said in
his finale.
But all the things he said and did during that long career were enough to
earn him induction into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.
"Sports fans have lost a wonderful friend," sports editor Gene Myers said.
"George was one of Michigan's most influential media figures of the 20th
Century."
His first retirement, in 1992, allowed him to spend time with Delphine, his
wife of 57 years.
"We traveled a lot until his health declined," she said. "We went to Florida
a lot, and we visited our children in California. It was good."
But the years her husband spent on the job were good, too.
"He loved what he did, and to have him so happy about what he did made you
happy, too," she said.
But as much as he loved sports, he loved his family more. "I never thought
I'd be nuts about grandkids, but I carry a photo album with me," he told
Free Press sports writer Curt Sylvester in 2004.
Puscas had four children and six grandchildren.
Daughter Vicki Jester, her husband, Dan, and their sons, Joseph and James,
live in Sacramento, Calif. Son Charlie and his wife, Lili, live in Torrance,
Calif., with their son, Dietrich, and daughter, Tatiana. The other sons --
Jamie and Buddy -- live in the Detroit area. Jamie and his wife, Dawn, have
two children, Jack and Sarah. Puscas also is survived by sisters Flora Betea
and Elizabeth Fisco, and several nieces and nephews.
Visitation will be 5-8 p.m. Monday and 3-8 p.m. Tuesday (with prayers at 7
p.m.) at A.J. Desmond & Sons Funeral Home, 32515 Woodward, Royal Oak. The
funeral mass will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at St. Regis Catholic Church in
Bloomfield Hills, preceded by visitation at 9:30 a.m.
Contact MATT FIORITO at 313-222-6721 or mfio...@freepress.com.