A fortunate circumstance helped Dick Denny begin a 41-year journalism career.
In 1955, Denny hitchhiked to Indianapolis to chat with family friend Corky Lamm, who was a sportswriter for the Indianapolis News. That night, bad weather sent Lamm to cover a game at Muncie Central — instead of in southern Indiana as scheduled — and he found out Muncie Star sports editor Bob Barnet needed a sportswriter. Denny landed the job in March 1956 and began a career that took him from Muncie to the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, the Chicago Tribune, and finally, to join Lamm at the News, where he worked until retiring in 1997. Denny has covered a variety of sports — basketball, football, baseball, soccer, swimming, track and field and bowling. He went to Super Bowls II and III, attended the 1964 and 1967 World Series, covered many Chicago Bears football games at Wrigley Field and was the News’ first Indiana Pacers beat writer in 1967.
Denny is a native of Connersville and grew up in Richmond. A baseball catcher, he helped win the American Legion state championship in 1947 and was part of Richmond High School’s North Central Conference titlist in 1948. He then went on to Duke University, where he was a baseball teammate of future Major League shortstop Dick Groat. He drove in the winning run with a bases-loaded walk against Florida to send the Blue Devils to the 1952 College World Series. Denny is a veteran of the U.S. Army.
Since retiring, Denny has written three books: “Winning in the Fast Lanes: How Mike Aulby Pinned Down His Bowling Dreams,” “Glory Days: Legends of Indiana High School Basketball,” and “Reflections of Indiana Football Legend Dick Dullaghan, Coach.”