'Doc' Hussey was man for all seasons

He was a man for all seasons -- and then some.

John "Doc" Hussey was a classics professor in Latin-teacher clothing, a smooth-swinging golfer with slicing wit, and a sports-writing hall of famer at the keyboard.

Hussey, 65, died yesterday after a long illness.

By late yesterday afternoon, former students, friends and readers were already posting their memories on UnionLeader.com.

He retired from the New Hampshire Union Leader and Sunday News in 2006 after 48 years in the sports department, but he remains a presence.

"His name is invoked nightly ," said Maureen Milliken, a member of the Union Leader copy desk and former chief sports editor. "He was a great newsman, a great union man and a great guy, and we miss him a lot."

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"John was much more than a fine sports writer and reporter, though he was surely that," said Joe McQuaid, publisher of the Union Leader and Sunday News. "He had a passion for sports and for those who played them, amateur and professional. He also had a passion for politics.

"What few people outside the Union Leader newsroom would know, however, is that John became part of our institutional memory. He provided many reporters and editors with valuable background knowledge on the people and events that it is our duty to report on. John made our work much better and we will always remember that."

Another former chief sports editor and Hussey colleague, C.J. McCarthy called Hussey the "consummate old-school journalist."

"Nothing pleased Doc more than 'beating those damn Boston papers' to a good scoop," said McCarthy. "He had a network of sources that he developed over his 40-plus years in the sports writing business and he always proved to be an invaluable resource to all of us, whether it was sports, politics or the community in general."

'Smelled a rat'

Hussey provided the Union Leader with one of its biggest scoops when he detected something was amiss in the public-relations biography of University of New Hampshire graduate George O'Leary, named head football coach at the University of Notre Dame.

Seeking to do a local-angle story on the new head of the world's most storied college football program, Hussey spoke with several players and the man who coached the UNH football team at the time O'Leary was said to have earned three varsity letters. None of the men remembered O'Leary playing football.

Hussey shared his information with colleague Jim Fennell, whose reporting ultimately revealed that O'Leary had falsified his resume, and the coach -- since named head coach at the University of Central Florida -- was forced to step down at Notre Dame. The Union Leader's coverage of the story earned numerous awards and national acclaim.

"That was classic Doc: great news judgment, consummate team player," said Vin Sylvia, the Union Leader's sports and Sunday editor. "He recognized he was on to a major story, then stepped into the background and worked with a colleague to ensure the story got the best possible coverage."

Fennell has repeatedly emphasized Hussey's role in getting that story to the public.

"What many people may not realize is that Doc Hussey is the guy who got it all started," Fennell said Friday. "He sniffed the story out -- as one colleague succinctly put it: 'old Doc smelled a rat' -- and handed it off to me. Most people remember me for writing the stories, but it wouldn't have been possible without Doc tipping me off.

"That was Doc. From the moment I joined the paper in 2001, he went out of his way to give me story ideas, especially when they concerned two of his favorite subjects -- golf and college sports. They were always worth tracking down," Fennell said.

"I hear Doc Hussey was a good teacher in school, but I can't say since I never had him for class. What I can tell you is that he was a good newspaperman who we all could have learned something from."

Saturday fixture

Hussey was a fixture in the newsroom on busy sports Saturdays for more than 40 years, playing a central role each week to craft a Sunday sports section. For years he compiled the Sunday College Notebook, keeping readers informed about athletes at New Hampshire colleges and others from state secondary schools playing at out-of-state colleges, and then wrote much of the live coverage of Saturday events.

"It's no overstatement to say that Doc was a cornerstone of our sports news gathering on Saturdays," said Sunday News Sports Editor Dave Johnson. "Perhaps nobody is indispensable, but there were times that I don't know what we would have done without him. He was an absolute bulldog -- irascible, sometimes cantankerous -- most good newspaper people are -- and absolutely on top of everything we needed to be on top of, always reminding the editors of events that deserved coverage that he thought could be missed."

Although his role at the newspaper was usually that of a sportswriter, all who knew him in the newsroom were aware of his varied interests and the depth and breadth of his knowledge.

"John had a mind like a trap. He knew everything there was to know about politics and public policy in the state of New Hampshire and the city of Manchester for the past half century or more," said Johnson. "All the players, past and present. For years, he was the institutional memory of our newsroom. As we had many writers and editors who had moved here from other states, on many, many occasions, John was invaluable in putting breaking news stories into context."

He rarely sought attention for himself in print, Johnson said. "We sometimes had to coax him into taking a byline for a story he had written that had taken some enterprise to put together. To John, the story was the important part. The story had a life of its own, and John just saw his role as to allow that story out into the sunlight."

Reporter John Habib, who worked for 30 years alongside Hussey in sports, labeled the Doc "an institution."

And with years of experience there were sources. When it came to Manchester he seemed to know everyone and if he didn't he knew someone who did. And he never exposed his numerous sources.

Jay Dufour, a fellow teacher at Manchester Central High School and the assistant basketball coach at Southern New Hampshire University, recalled what a "great conversationalist" Hussey was.

"We shared a lot of stories about sports and talked about basketball prospects. He liked to stay abreast of college prospects because of his weekly college notebook," said Dufour, a social studies teacher at Central, who also relied on Hussey for information.

"If I needed something about a presidential primary," Dufour said, "he was the one I called on."

Addicted to politics

Indeed, Hussey was addicted to politics. He loved presidential primary night in the city. On one of those nights he dragged along a cub sports reporter to the Sheraton Wayfarer in Bedford. The bar there was a haunt for the major news media personalities. No sooner had Hussey walked into the crowded bar than someone called out, "John! John!"

It was the unmistakable voice of then-NBC political commentator John Chancellor. Hussey proceeded to "hold court" on Granite State politics with Chancellor and friends, including ABC anchor Peter Jennings, while nearby gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson smoked and stared expressionless at the boisterous group.

It was a snippet in the life of Hussey never forgotten by that aspiring sports reporter who stood quietly by Hussey's side.

Milliken remembered the night Hussey caused a political stir in the newsroom.

"It was the night U.S. Sen. John Kerry came in to glad-hand," said Milliken. "The night of the 1996 New Hampshire primary and Doc leapt from his seat and accosted an unsuspecting Kerry on education funding."

Sports columnist Joe Sullivan knew Hussey from their days as Little Leaguers.

"I knew him from the time I was nine years old," said Sullivan. "He was the starting second baseman, and I was the sitting second baseman in the North Little League (coincidentally, for a team called the Pressmen). I started learning from him then and kept learning from him the whole way through. He was the teacher and I was the student."

They both became teachers in the Manchester school system and reporters for the Union Leader.

"Before computers, I would call and he would take the story," said Sullivan. "He was an editor before the editor even got the stuff. He made everybody better when he took dictation."

Golf expert

Hussey's specialty in sports writing was golf, and he was a fixture at the Manchester City Championship and the New Hampshire Golf Association State Amateur.

"I do remember when I covered the city golf tournament, all I heard the entire day was 'Where's Doc?' It was like I was an interloper there," joked Sullivan. "He was such a staple. Of all the things he covered, obviously the State Am and the city tournament were his favorites. When he covered golf, the golfers came to him. He was a magnet. He could give them as much as they could give him."

Golfing standout Dan Arvanitis, who grew up near Hussey's childhood home on Hanover Street, remembers the sports writer taking great pride in the city championship.

"He covered that tournament for many, many years and did a great job," Arvanitis said. "Everyone loved to read his golf notebook. You think of all those golf articles through the years. He helped bring golf in Manchester to where it is today."

Longtime friend Tommy Grant, who works at Derryfield Country Club of Manchester, took a "trip of a lifetime" to the Bahamas with Hussey and friends in 1979. They played -- what else? -- lots of golf.

"What a fantastic trip. John didn't even know how to turn on the shower because it was a one-valve deal. He wasn't too domesticated," said Grant, whose son, Robert, is Hussey's godson.

Quick wit

Household chores notwithstanding, Hussey always impressed Grant with his sponge-like mind and quick wit.

"He could read a book in 20 minutes and know everything in it. He had an awesome mind," Grant said.

Hussey met his match in wit when Milliken became the first woman to head the newspaper's sports department.

Co-workers were frequently entertained by our 'old married-couple spats,'" said Milliken, who worked with Hussey for 20 years, a decade in sports.

"But Doc and I knew we were just having some Irish fun. He really loved a good, old-fashioned discussion on any topic, but particularly loved to talk politics, old-time sports and celebrity gossip."

This spring, the memory of Hussey no doubt will be toasted at golf courses throughout greater Manchester.

"I used to see him at the club, and he'd buy shrimp cocktails," Grant said. "He'd say, 'One for me and one for the rest of you guys.'"

"I don't know of anyone who didn't like Doc Hussey," added his friend and former colleague Sullivan. "I guess that's the best testament anybody could have."

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