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RIP John Smallwood
Published:
Former Philadelphia Daily News and Inquirer columnist John Smallwood passed away this weekend at age 55.
The news was first shared on Sunday by the newspapers’ managing editor, Pat McLoone:
Sad day for Philadelphia sports media as John Smallwood passes away at age 55. A wonderful guy, a devoted father and husband and a talented and passionate writer, John surely will be missed. John suffered far too long after a lengthy illness. RIP.
— Pat McLoone (@PatMcLoone) December 6, 2020
Smallwood had been dealing with that illness for quite some time.
You might recall that he left the Daily News/Inquirer last year as part of another round of buyouts that also saw Sam Donnellon and Rick O’Brien depart. John was most recently assigned to the Villanova beat, but did a little bit of everything during a stint that began in 1994 and featured more than two decades of column writing. He really was a jack of all trades for the large majority of his Philly newspaper career. He was also a frequent guest on Daily News Live, before that show went away.
John was a nice guy. We’d chat in the press box or media lounge before Philadelphia Union games and he struck me as the type of person who would start a conversation with anybody. It didn’t have to be some in-depth dialogue; John liked to gather information and share ideas and just bullshit with other writers, because you got the sense that he saw value in what other people had to say. He was a down to Earth and easy going type of person.
RIP John.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com