Print HOF

Bob Broeg – 2006

It seemed to many that Bob Broeg was around for the very beginnings of baseball. His exposure to the sport began officially at Sportsman’s Park, where he could be found working at one of the gates. He turned his interest into a career, writing for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, finally achieving the rank of Sports Editor, and was a member of the Baseball Veterans’ Hall of Fame Committee. After covering the Cardinals for 13 seasons until 1958, Broeg spent the next 20 years as sports editor, and as a columnist for both the Post and The Sporting News. He also authored countless books, including such baseball classics as The Pilot Light and the Gas House Gang and Super Stars of Baseball. He is credited with coining the nickname “Stan the Man” for his favorite player, Stan Musial.

Bob Burnes – 2006

Bob Burnes, known as “The Benchwarmer,” wrote for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat for 51 years. From his hiring in 1945 to his retirement in 1986, Burnes wrote over 15,000 articles for his sports column, eventually becoming the Globe’s sports editor. His near-photographic memory of games he had covered served him well later when he premiered on KMOX radio in 1953 and became the first host of their Sports Open Line program. Burnes’ unabashed support for St. Louis was embraced by his fans, and he was honored by the Gateway Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society with the creation of its “Bob Burnes Spirit of St. Louis Award,” given regularly to the person who has dedicated years of service toward excellence and the celebration of sports in St. Louis.

Joseph Charless – 2008

Joseph Charless was a native of Ireland who came to St. Louis in 1808. A successful businessman, he became publisher of the Missouri Gazette, the first newspaper west of the Mississippi River. The newspaper was literally produced at first in a log cabin. With the first issue appearing July 1, 1808, the paper had 174 subscribers and part of it was printed in French in an effort to appeal to the city’s majority population (80%). As part of his effort to reach the community, Charless would barter for subscriptions, taking meat, vegetables and even flour as payment. His Missouri Gazette operated for over a century under different names.

Marquis W. Childs – 2008

Marquis W. Childs began his career at the Post-Dispatch in 1926, winning a Pulitzer Prize for distinguished commentary in 1970, when he was serving as the paper’s contributing editor. The winning article and Childs’ continuing criticism of the Vietnam War earned him a spot of President Nixon’s list of enemies.

During his 47 years at the paper, Childs interviewed world leaders, including private sessions with Presidents Franklin Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower and John Kennedy. He spent most of his career with the paper at its Washington bureau and wrote a syndicated column for United Press International for many years, even after his retirement from the Post in 1974.

Childs authored many books during his career, including his memoirs in 1975.

Irving Dilliard – 2006

Irving Dilliard created a national reputation for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch during his tenure as its editorial page editor from 1949-1957, capping a 30-year career. From the Great Depression through the years of the Eisenhower presidency, Dilliard wrote over 10,000 editorials, and after he retired in 1960 he went on to teach constitutional law at Princeton. A lifelong resident of Collinsville, IL, Dilliard went on to write and edit books based on the papers of Supreme Court Justices Louis D. Brandeis and Hugo L. Black. In 1975, Supreme Court Justice William Douglas was asked which journalists knew the court best. Douglas replied, “There is only one. His name is Irving Dilliard.” 

Richard Dudman – 2008

Working as a Washington correspondent with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Richard Dudman used his adventuresome style to post stories from such places as Argentina, the Middle East, China and Vietnam. In 1970 he was captured by Vietcong guerillas in Cambodia while he was covering the Vietnam War – this became the basis of his book “40 Days with the Enemy.” Back in Washington, he led the bureau in obtaining some of the first copies of the Pentagon Papers, the top-secret Pentagon account of the Vietnam War (which was contrary to what the public was being told). For this, his name appeared on Richard Nixon’s “enemies list.”