Sports Journalist, Best-selling Author John Feinstein Dies At 69

Indiana head coach Bobby Knight exhales on the sideline at the MCI Arena in 1998. Sportswriter John Feinstein's "A Season on the Brink" chronicled the antics and success of former Indiana University basketball coach Bobby Knight, who gave Feinstein unfettered access behind the scenes at what was then one of the most elite college basketball programs in the United States. File Photo Michael Smith/UPI

March 13 (UPI) -- Well-known sportswriter, highly regarded commentator, and best-selling book author John Feinstein has died at the age of 69.

Feinstein, who wrote 48 books, died Thursday at his brother's home in McLean, Va., the Washington Post reported.

Feinstein cut his teeth as a police reporter for the Washington Post in 1977 but soon set himself apart on the sports beat. While he developed into a consummate and trusted journalist, former colleagues remember him as a highly regarded yet understated mentor to his fellow journalists.

"He was a great writer and an even better guy," Barry M. Bloom, 73, a senior writer for Sportico, said on X. "No writer had a more profound impact on me in my early years either in word or deed."

Feinstein penned "A Good Walk Spoiled" (1995) about professional golf, "Hard Courts" (1990) about the pro tennis tour, "A Civil War" (1996) on the Army-Navy football game, and "Where Nobody Knows Your Name" (2014), which documented a year with minor league baseball players and their managers. He also wrote a dozen teen mystery novels.

He was perhaps best-known for his tell-all work called "A Season on the Brink," (1986) which chronicled the antics and success of former Indiana University basketball coach Bobby Knight, who gave Feinstein unfettered access behind the scenes at what was then one of the most elite college basketball programs in the United States.

Feinstein was also not without controversy.

Former NPR sports correspondent Tom Goldman, who produced Feinstein for his radio segments, recalled a story Feinstein told him about Knight's negative reaction to parts of the book.

"John said Knight called him a pimp and a whore, to which John responded 'I wish he'd make up his mind so I'd know how to dress,' " Goldman recalled. "For all of his accolades, accomplishments and wide body of award winning work, I know he would also want to be remembered for that quick wit and wicked sense of humor."

In 2013, Feinstein was honored by the National Basketball Hall of Fame with the Gowdy award, which honors sports reporters for their overall excellence in sports journalism. He is also was a member of the National Sportswriters and Broadcasters Hall of Fame.

"His brother, Robert Feinstein, confirmed the death but said the cause was not immediately clear," Men's Journal reported.