More tributes to Dick Zunt

The funeral eulogy by Dan Coughlin:
http://videos.cleveland.com/plain-dealer/2010/01/dan_coughlin_eulogizes_dick_zu.html

Richard Ellers who went to the funeral Wednesday, at Rocky River St Patrick Church, "was the first time in my long lifetime I can ever remember a eulogy bringing a round of applause."

My favorite memory of Dick came in the early 1970's at a high school district track meet at Kent Roosevelt High School. I was working at the Willoughby News-Herald and was lucky enough to get the seat next to him in the pressbox. It began to rain and some of the area coaches, in an effort to stay dry, crowded under the pressbox's wooden canopy. One coach, with a very large derriere, kept backing up until he was sitting on what he thought was the pressbox window ledge. But what he was actually resting on was Zip's portable typewriter. Dick, too good-hearted to ask the coach to move, waited until the guy decided to get up. Zip was behind in typing agate results, but the coach with the big butt never knew it.

--- Bob Roberts

Yes, no doubt about it, Dick Zunt was a great guy. What amazed me about him was how many people he knew -- it must have been most of Cleveland and half the state. And he remembered all those names! A good example of this is one time Mike Quinn and I went to the spring state tournament to help Zip, typing up the agate results while he wrote the stories. After we were done, we went out to eat. The waitress was a young lady and Zip asked her where she was from. "Bucyrus," she said. He asked what her address was. She told him, and he knew somebody who lived two doors from her! --Don Kerr

As people have mentioned, Dick never said goodbye when he left. Sometimes that was because he was always coming back into the office. I remember one night he was leaving, with his usual huge stacks of notes, papers and whatnot under his arms. He came back into the sports department a few minutes later when he realized that in all of that material he had under his arms, was the yellow pages off his desk.

Dick was truly one of the best ambassadors the PD ever had.

-- Kathy Kudravi

It's often said about people who pass, but it truly fits here - Zippy was one of the nicest human beings you'll ever meet. He loved what he did. What I'll remember about Zip is how he enjoyed the people that were at every event - from the kids, coaches and parents, to his colleagues covering the game. What a great guy. He will be greatly missed.

-- Al Pawlowski, SportsTime Ohio

The thing everyone overlooks because Dick Zunt was so nice is that he was probably the leading authority on the best high school players who passed through Cleveland over the last 50 years. The man was a walking encyclopedia.

In 2000, when the NCAA men's basketball tournament came to Cleveland for the first time, I suggested doing a takeout on the best players ever from the city and metropolitan area in the high school and college ranks, the story to run the morning the tournament opened.

I did it in between assignments in Winter Haven with the Tribe at spring training. Other than reaching by telephone Clark Kellogg (the best pre-LeBron player in the area's history) and Mouse McFadden, the engine who drove Cleveland State to a Sweet 16 berth, I depended heavily on Zip. Night after night I would return to my hotel room in Florida and find pink message slips waiting for me. Each was from Zunt, and each would name a player he had forgotten and give me the player's stats and relevant biographical information.

The underline "Plain Dealer reporter Dick Zunt contributed to this story'' that ran with the piece was not really true. Plain Dealer reporter Dick Zunt made that story possible.

In some ways, he was too nice to be critical. I recall when I was not very impressed with a highly touted area quarterback who was headed to Ohio State. This was after watching him play against Zip's beloved St. Ignatius Wildcats. The next day, I called Zip, told him of my misgivings, and said, "Am I completely off base in your view?'' Zunt agreed with me entirely about the player in question. The fact that he concurred, after all the great players he had seen, gave me the support I needed to take an unpopular stand. We were both proven correct when the player was eventually benched for most of his career at OSU despite the glowing press notices he took with him to Columbus from others.

Zippy was, in short, a very nice man, but he also had a very good eye.

Years later, when Dick had retired and I was doing a book on Cleveland's only track and field Olympic gold medalist since the 1960s, former St. Ignatius pole vaulter Tim Mack, Zip was again a great resource. When I couldn't find a Track and Field News profile of Mack for my research, Zunt offered his. He had stacks of the magazine at his West Park house, dating back decades. Anything I wanted to know about St. Ignatiuus in writing the book, Zunt dug out and happily gave to me. That's even though he knew my son went to St. Ed's.

I guess that said it all. Dick Zunt didn't have a biased bone in his body. Catholic or public school, black or white, Ed's or Ignatius even, he treated everyone the same. He was nice as a spring day, but he would give you an opinion you could take to the bank, too.

So long, Zip. I certainly could never thank you enough.

n Bill Livingston

I had forgotten Zip's insurance career. One wonders if the company survived. Can you imagine Zip denying anyone's claim? "Oh, that scratch on the bumper? Sure, we'll get you a new one, and while we're at it, the trunk, too....

-- Michael J. Quinn

When I was working at Elyria Chronicle Telegram (must be about 25 years ago), Dick was in charge of one of the all-district football teams so my boss told me to call him and get the info. I called Dick at the PD. He said he had the information in his car and he'd go get it. Before I could say, "No wait, Dick, I don't need it this second," I heard the phone hit the desk and he was gone. He came back about five minutes later all out of breath and gave me what I needed. I told him he didn't need to have done that and he could have called me back at his convenience, but he said, "I knew you needed it. It's no problem. Happy to help you, Steve. "

I get a chuckle every time I think of the sound of that phone hitting the desk. He was going out of his way to do me a favor immediately when he didn't have to.

That's Dick. He'd do anything to help. Far too many people in this business have enormous egos and think it's about them. Dick was just the opposite. To him it was about everybody but him. It was all about the people and the event he was writing about. Dick was one of the nicest people I've ever met. Knowing him was a real privilege.

--Steve Herrick