Herald sportswriter Ventura ends remarkable career
By Cary Shuman
Donato “Danny” Ventura, one of the most illustrious and beloved high school sportswriters of all time, has announced that he will be retiring from his position at the Boston Herald Aug. 1.
Ventura, 65, who lives in East Boston with his wife, Carla, said his decision to retire was made after careful thought and reflection and numerous consultations with his wife.
“This was not something I rushed into,” said Ventura. “When my dad (the late Pompeo Ventura, Danny is also the son of Mrs. Anita Ventura) passed away five years ago, I was 60 years old, and sometimes you get melancholy, so I talked to my wife, and I said at that time, ‘We have to figure out our future as far as how much longer we work.’ We said we’d revisit it in four years. Last summer, we talked, and I said, ‘I think this is going to be my last year.’ So, I’ve pretty much known for over a year that this was the last hurrah.”
Ventura said he informed his bosses at the Herald July 7 of his decision. He credited his former Herald colleague, Karen Guregian, for helping guide him through the process.
“Karen has known my thought process and been my sounding board and a great adviser to me,” related Ventura.
Symbolic of his loyalty and dedication to the Herald, Ventura also weighed the matter of the timing of his retirement.
“The one thing I always wanted to do is I never wanted to leave during the athletic school year,” said Ventura. “Because to replace anybody is a nightmare for a sports editor. So, that’s why if I were to leave the newspaper, it would have to be in the early summer. That’s why I picked July.”
Forty years of excellence
in the field of
sports journalism
Danny Ventura, known warmly as “Danny V” to his legion of readers and admirers, is leaving the high school sports scene after 40 years as a writer and editor.
“I worked 35 years at the Herald, 40 in the business,” said Ventura. “I started writing in the summer of 1986. A friend of mine saw an ad in the local paper [Dedham Transcript] that they were looking for a high school sportswriter. It was a two-game tryout for $100. My former bosses there, Hank Hryniewicz and Frank Wall, apparently saw something in me, because after my second night on the job, they felt I had potential and asked if I would consider coming on the staff as a part-time writer. I said, ‘yes.’ Six months later, they ended up making me a full-time reporter at the Transcript.”
Ventura stayed at the Transcript until 1990 when he was laid off.
“My big break was that Hank, who was so instrumental in my career at the Transcript, wound up at the Herald as the Sunday sports editor,” said Ventura. “I called Hank, and he connected me with [sports editor] Bob Sales. He offered me a part-time Saturday-Sunday night shift from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. Just wanting to get my foot in the door, I accepted the position.”
Ventura’s role soon expanded at the Herald, “and my big break came in 1996 when [high school sports editor] Bob Holmes went from the Herald to the Globe. Stephanie Tunnera, who was Bob’s assistant, took Bob’s job, and I wound up getting her job as the assistant high school sports editor.”
Ventura eventually succeeded Jim Clark [who had moved to a copy-editing position at the Herald] as the Herald high school sports editor in 2010.
Ventura built a tremendous following at the Herald with his feature stories about high school athletes, Sweet-16 rankings, state tournament previews, his nonpareil “No Holds Barred” wrestling column, and his game predictions as part of his Thursday “Pickorama.”
“A lot of coaches actually wanted me to pick their teams to lose, so they could use it as bulletin-board material,” said Ventura.
His outstanding work has resulted in numerous individual sportswriting awards. Ventura was the recipient of the National High School Sportswriter of the Year Award in 2004 and the Dave Weidner/Harry Agganis Foundation Media Award in 2007 and has been honored by the MIAA and the state high school football, baseball, and swimming associations.
Tributes pour in for
nationally acclaimed writer
As soon as Ventura’s decision to retire was revealed, athletic directors, coaches, parents, and former high school athletes inundated Ventura’s phone and email with heartfelt messages of gratitude and congratulatory wishes of support.
“I was floored by the reaction,” said Ventura. “My twitter account blew up. My phone, my emails were flooded. I’m floored and flattered at the same time. I’ve been very surprised by the outpouring of affection. Dan Shaugnessy mentioned it in the Globe. [Former WEEI-FM sports radio host] Pete Sheppard reached out to me, and I was a guest on his show [in Florida].”
Jeff Newhall, director of athletics and six-time state champion girls basketball coach at St. Mary’s High School, Lynn, said of Ventura’s illustrious career, “Danny did a tremendous job of highlighting great high school stories and bringing them to doorsteps throughout the Commonwealth. I very much enjoyed reading his columns, features stories and fearless predictions. I wish him health and happiness in his years of retirement.”
Paul Halloran, former sports editor of the Daily Item and high school baseball coach, said, “Danny Ventura set the standard for Boston newspaper coverage of high school sports in Eastern Massachusetts. His effort, enthusiasm and excellence will be sorely missed by student-athletes, parents, coaches and readers in general. The fact that he is a wonderful person is a bonus. Danny is the best.”
Rob DiLoreto, head football coach at Everett High School, said he and Ventura have been friends for more than 30 years.
“Danny is a man of integrity and has been the epitome of reporting high school sports in Massachusetts for decades,” said DiLoreto. “I love him and he will be dearly missed on the high school sports scene. I wish him a happy retirement.”
David O’Connor, former sportswriter and the current communications director for the Everett school district, also praised Ventura on his superb career. “It’s hard to conceive of someone bringing a higher, more consistent level of professionalism to their work than Danny V,” said O’Connor. “From day to day, season to season, and year to year, he delivered accurate, compelling, timely, and entertaining coverage of high school athletics. He did so with a level of class and thoughtfulness that serve as a model for anyone who hopes to follow in his footsteps.”
Looking back on his numerous accomplishments and a treasure trove of memories (he lists the 1997 St. John’s Prep-Xaverian football showdown for the Catholic Conference championship on Thanksgiving as the greatest game he ever covered – a 15-14 win for the eventual Super Bowl champion Prep following a Brian St. Pierre touchdown run and a Brian Lentz rush for the two-point conversion late in the fourth quarter), Ventura said he leaves the profession with his head held high for his contributions and diligence each day at the newspaper.
“I can walk away knowing that I gave the Herald an honest shift every day I worked there,” said Ventura.