Al Laney was one of the premier golf and tennis writers in the United States from the mid 1930s to the mid 1960s. During a career of more than fifty years he developed a reputation as a sensitive, graceful writer capable of beautifully crafted prose. An insightful reporter and master interviewer, Laney had an unerring ability to capture the style and character of the sports he covered and the athletes who played them.

Born on 11 January 1896 in Pensacola, Florida, Al Laney was the son of an attorney and one of six children. Mostly self-educated, he began his journalistic career with the Pensacola Journal in an after-school job that became full-time by the time Laney was fourteen years old. Jerome Holtzman writes that Laney emphasized, "there is no such thing as a born reporter. You have to learn, just like you learn to play the piano." Laney learned by...