Sandy Grady, 87, veteran Philadelphia journalist

Sandy Grady, 87, a respected Philadelphia journalist acclaimed for his sportswriting who also covered politics and seven presidents, died Tuesday, April 14, in Reston, Va., after a long battle with kidney cancer.

A native of Charlotte, N.C., Mr. Grady arrived in Philadelphia in 1957 to weave tales at the Philadelphia Daily News and then the Bulletin.

Frank Bilovsky, a former Bulletin sportswriter, said of Mr. Grady: "He destroyed my 1950s stereotypical view of Southern white men as backward, right-wing bigots. He was elegant, progressive, and tolerant. He also was the best sports columnist I had ever read - and maybe that still holds today."

A vivid example of Mr. Grady's writing was delivered on the occasion of the Phillies' clinching the World Series in 1980.

"There was only one word for it: Bee-YOO-ti-ful!," Mr. Grady wrote for the Bulletin.

"Somebody should freeze all the clocks in Philadelphia at 11:31 p.m., Oct. 21, 1980, and cast them in bronze.

"That was the moment the Phillies beat the Kansas City Royals, 4-1, in the sixth game of the World Series to become the baseball champeens of the cosmos."

Inquirer editor William K. Marimow said he was "a huge fan as a kid" of Mr. Grady's writing. "I thought he was an amazing columnist who had great insight into Philadelphia sports."

Mr. Grady returned to the Daily News as a columnist covering national politics until 2000. He later wrote as a contributor to USA Today.

Through Mr. Grady was a sportswriting hero, "he made a decision to leave that comfort zone and start writing a general politics column," said Kathy Kiely, his longtime companion.

The shift began for Mr. Grady when the NFL played its normal schedule of games two days after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Kiely said. Grady also was galvanized by the Vietnam War.

Ernest Grady graduated from Harding High School in Charlotte and joined the Navy at the end of World War II, serving in the Pacific. Upon his return, he attended the University of North Carolina.

From 1950 until 1957, he wrote for the Charlotte News.

Ron Green, a former colleague, wrote Tuesday night for the Charlotte Observer that Mr. Grady "was one of the best writers this state has ever seen."

Last year, Mr. Grady was honored with the A.J. Liebling Award for his outstanding boxing writing, which included covering Muhammad Ali from his gold-medal performance in the 1960 Rome Olympics - when he was still Cassius Clay - up to the first fight between Ali and Joe Frazier in 1971 at Madison Square Garden.

Mr. Grady told the Daily News that he was drawn to boxing "because of the characters, like you find in no other sport. There are characters in politics, but they aren't as colorful."

He is survived by a son, Patrick; two granddaughters; and a sister. His wife, Edith, died in 2006. A son, Michael, died in 2013.

Funeral arrangements were pending, but his family said he would be buried in Charlotte.