March 3, 2016
Quick Slant is an array of brief insights and occasionally opinionated overviews of collegiate athletics in general and the Vanderbilt Commodores in particular.
Veteran sportswriter, kid’s mentor and Vanderbilt fan Harold Huggins lost his battle with leukemia a few days ago. His funeral, attended by a cross-section of Vanderbilt employees in addition to many others, was Thursday. He was well-liked, respected and certainly leaves a void that will be difficult to fill.
Women’s tennis coach Geoff Macdonald shared these thoughts and below, Nashville journalist David Boclair has given us permission to share his wonderful rememberance.
“I got to know Harold Huggins over the last two decades when he would cover the Vanderbilt tennis teams for the Tennessean, and later for the City Paper. He was a class act as a journalist- utterly professional but also thoroughly warm and friendly. I teased him about the demise of his beloved Los Angeles Lakers, and he gave it right back to me with his sharp wit. We bonded on our shared passion for Vanderbilt Athletics. My already high opinion of Harold grew when I learned that he gave very generously-and anonymously- to local youth sports teams. He also paid for countless kids to go to Vanderbilt sports camps. I will miss his smile, his love of sports, and his clean, crisp writing style. With his death, we have all lost a wonderful friend and human being.”
Boclair tribute: Veteran local journalist Harold Huggins dies at 73
