L.A. loses writing legend

Columnist Malamud passes away

By Joseph Soqui
Assistant Sports Editor

Allan Malamud, former Daily Trojan Sports Editor and longtime columnist for both the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner and the Los Angeles Times, died Monday, apparently of natural causes. He was 54.
According to the Times, a maid found him in his apartment in Los Angeles. The coroner's office will perform an autopsy on Tuesday.
Malamud is best known for his column "Notes on a scorecard" that appeared four times a week in the sports section of the Times. He graduated from USC in 1963 and was quickly hired by the Herald-Examiner in the same year.
The next 32 years of his life were spent focusing on the Los Angeles sports scene. His column was exactly what it was called--a series of notes and tidbits that no one else in the business seemed to get a hold of.
He covered a variety of sports from horse racing to boxing to football in Los Angeles.
Malamud was the sports editor of the Daily Trojan in 1963 and is regarded as one of the most famous journalists to come out of the university.
The news came as a shock to everyone who knew Malamud, including those on campus who worked with the sports reporter over the last four decades.
"Allan was a friend of mine for many years," USC football coach John Robinson said. "He was also a friend to every person who loved sports because he loved sports so much. His column always brought out the best in people. He made sports in Los Angeles positive and exciting. He had a keen interest in USC and was a regular at our weekly media luncheons, where he was always the first to ask questions and in the post-game locker room press sessions. I'll miss him as a friend, as a writer and as a great person for sports in southern California."
"Allan was an artist," USC Athletic Director Mike Garrett said. "What he wrote had an impact on our community. He was the last of the local writers who promoted Los Angeles in a way that was constructive for the entire community. I always read his column to see what was happening in Los Angeles and to know what sports in this city was all about. What a loss to the entire Los Angeles sports community and certainly to USC."
USC Sports Information Director Tim Tessalone worked closely with Malamud over the past two decades. It was Tessalone who constantly found ways for Malamud to insert USC tidbits in his column.
"Allan's column was always interesting, unique, fair and accurate," Tessalone said. "I know that USC fans scanned his column each day to see what observations he had about the Trojans. He knew sports, but he never took them too seriously, just like he never took himself too seriously. It was obvious how much Allan loved sports. USC meant a lot to Allan, but Allan meant even more to USC."
Malamud was in the press box Saturday for USC's 46-17 victory over Oregon State, what would be the final sporting event he would attend in his illustrious career.
"I guess it's appropriate that the last sporting event he saw in person was last Saturday's USC football game because he had a special feeling for his alma mater," Tessalone said. "He came out to the game even though he said he wasn't feeling well, that he had the stomach flu."
Funeral services will be held at Hillside Mortuary in Culver City, and the date has yet to be determined.