THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, November 28, 1994 TAG: 9411280048
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Guy Friddell
LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
Once, upon being honored with a roast by the Elks Club in Portsmouth, Abe Goldblatt said: ``People used to see me walk down the street and they said, `There goes that bum.' But I went out and made a name for myself, and now they say, `There goes that bum Goldblatt.' ''
What they really said, seeing Abe's slow grin and wise, kind, interested eyes, was: ``There's that lovely Abe Goldblatt! I wonder how he's going to lighten my life.''
Perhaps he'd tell how in 1934, during an exhibition game between the New York Yankees and Norfolk Tars, he saw Babe Ruth hit the longest home run in history.
``The ball cleared the right field fence and landed on top of a Norfolk & Western coal train and didn't stop until it got to Cincinnati,'' Abe explained.
Or there was the day that the grandstand roof collapsed when a tornado hit the Portsmouth ballpark. Amid the chaos, owner Frank D. Lawrence appeared, megaphone in hand, at home plate.
``Ladies and gentleman, give me your attention!'' he bellowed.
Silence fell over the shattered ballpark. Lawrence spoke: ``I want to announce this game has been postponed on account of rain. There will be a doubleheader tomorrow!''
When Goldblatt died Saturday, he had worked more than 63 years for this paper. He grew up in Portsmouth where his father, a refugee from the Cossacks' oppression in Lithuania, opened a tailor shop on High Street.
``I was the only boy in school who wore a tailor-made suit without a nickel in the pocket,'' Abe said.
Sports editor of the Wilson High School paper, he was a classmate of quarterback Clarence ``Ace'' Parker.
When The Virginian-Pilot put Parker at halfback for its All-Tidewater Team, Abe chided sports editor Bill Cox for ``misplacing the best quarterback in America.''
Cox published his letter and hired him at 18. Down the years Abe covered every game - high school and Old Dominion baseball, Norfolk State football, Virginia Wesleyan basketball - as if it were the New York Yankees or Notre Dame. He saw it all with wonder.
Soon, under his caring hand and passionate eye, it seemed that way to players and spectators. Other writers took note.
His subjects honored him for lifting them, giving them credibility. Coaches awarded athletic scholarships at Abe's urging.
He was our encyclopedia. Sometimes he seemed a genie.
``Whatcha writing?'' he'd ask.
Once, with me, it was about Bob Steele. Abe recalled how the film cowboy had visited Norfolk during World War II. Then Abe left my desk, returning to hand me a picture - Bob Steele.
When any of us met him in the hall, we paused to chat - and parted the wiser. He made us proud to be a part of this profession - or game, if you prefer - and he loved nearly every minute of it and helped us to do so. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Abe Goldblatt, who died Saturday, spent 63 years at The
Virginian-Pilot, and lightened lives for more years than that.
by CNB