Daryl Bell, longtime pioneering journalist and mentor, has died at 63
He spent nearly five decades covering news and sports in Philadelphia, Bucks County, and elsewhere around the country. “He loved journalism,” his wife said.
Daryl Bell, 63, of Philadelphia, longtime pioneering journalist for The Inquirer, Philadelphia Tribune, Philadelphia Bulletin, Bucks County Courier Times, and other newspapers around the country, died Saturday, Feb. 10, of complications from a stroke at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center.
A graduate of Overbrook High School and Temple University, Mr. Bell spent 46 years covering sports and news in the Philadelphia region and for newspapers in nine states. He covered high school sports for The Inquirer as a freelance writer in the 1980s and 2000s, and most recently was a sports reporter for the Courier Times and Intelligencer of Doylestown, and writer and editor for the Tribune.
He kicked off his career in 1978 as a sportswriter and copy editor for the Bulletin, and worked the next four and a half decades at newspapers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, Georgia, Mississippi, Florida, Indiana, and Texas. He was the first Black journalist in the sports department at the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville in 1982 and the second at the Richmond Times-Dispatch in Virginia in 1984.
Known for his good humor and collegiality, Mr. Bell was recognized by colleagues as a tireless mentor wherever he worked and consequential voice as a columnist for the Tribune. He won writing awards from the Associated Press in 1998 and the Georgia Press Association in 2006, and Donald Hunt, retired Tribune writer and member of the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame, told the Tribune: “He was one of the best columnists we had in the city. He had a knack. The words just flowed.”
Mr. Bell covered mostly high school sports but wrote also about the Eagles, Phillies, 76ers, college sports, and boxing. In a 2019 column for the Tribune about former Eagle DeSean Jackson posting a controversial message on Instagram, Mr. Bell said: “His heart was in the right place. His brain, well, let’s just say it wasn’t there.”
He wrote news stories and features early in his career, and later contributed to high school sports podcasts for the Courier Times and Intelligencer. He also made an appearance on the TV One show For My Man.
Mr. Bell promoted diversity in the newsroom and was active with the Sports Task Force for employment organized by the National Association of Black Journalists. He championed the Philadelphia Black Basketball Hall of Fame, made it a point to publicize events sponsored by local Black churches, and was honored by the New Temple Baptist Church in 2021 for being what church leaders called “a pioneer in the Black community.”
“Having a Black voice is very important in any industry,” Mr. Bell said in an online interview with the St. Joseph’s University Department of English, Writing, and Journalism. “You don’t know what someone else is feeling.”
He enjoyed mentoring, he said in that interview, because he often learned as much as the colleague who came to him for advice. “I like the fact that they do come to me, especially when there is a problem, and we try to find a solution,” he said.
His wife, Nancy, said: “He loved journalism.” A colleague said on Facebook: “Press box just isn’t the same without Daryl.”
Daryl Wayne Bell was born Sept. 27, 1960, in Philadelphia. He graduated from Overbrook in 1978 and earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism at Temple in 1982.
He had daughter Lisa and met Nancy Wilson at a club in Clarksdale, Miss., in 2007. They married on her birthday, Jan. 14, in 2016 and lived in Greenville, Miss., and then Philadelphia.
Mr. Bell liked buffet restaurants, nights at casinos, and movie dates with his wife. His favorite TV shows were comedies, especially Sanford and Son, and Two and a Half Men. “It was hard not to smile around Daryl Bell,” a friend said in an online tribute.
He listened to the Commodores, L.T.D., and rhythm and blues music. He was active with his high school reunion committee and checked in often with folks he knew were struggling. Family and friends called him Bootsy and Cool Papa.
Friends said in Facebook tributes that he was “a jovial fellow,” “a great guy,” and “a role model.” A longtime friend said: “He definitely walked to his own beat. One of West Philly’s finest.”
His wife said: “We had good times. He was a funny guy. He was a smart guy, and he liked to help people.”
In addition to his wife and daughter, Mr. Bell is survived by a twin sister, a brother, and other relatives.
Services were held March 2.