Alan Greenberg Children's Trust

[NE_PATS_FAN_54]

Im sure by now everyone knows that longtime journalist Alan Greenburg past away last week suddenly. He was 55 and died because of a heart attack. What some people may not know is that Alan had 3 young kids. There has been a trust set up for his 3 children and I would advise anyone and everyone to please give whatever you can to this trust. I didnt know Alan,, but was a big fan of all his work like so many others.

from weei.com (http://weei.com/Article.asp?id=364019&spid=)

In lieu of flowers, a trust fund has been established for Alan's 3 children Alex, 13; Allison, 10; and Abigal, 7. Donations can be made in the name of Greenberg Childrens Trust, at Citizens Bank; 450 Boston Post Road; Sudbury, Mass., 01776. Thank you to all of our listeners for your generous donations and support of the Greenberg Family.

boston sports media watch has had many journalists from the new england area and beyond write their thoughts of Mr. Greenburg, here is a small sampling:

In addition, the New England Patriots and coach Bill Belichick expressed their sadness at the passing of Greenberg.

This was from Belichick earlier today as quoted in that link:

"On a personal note, and on behalf of the organization, we're shocked and saddened by the news today about Alan. We want to express our deepest sympathies and condolences to his family and our prayers and thoughts are with them. We're extremely saddened at the loss of a member of the family and person that I had contact with virtually every day for the past several years. It's obviously a very, very sad loss. As I said, our thoughts and prayers are with them.

"He was a person that definitely added a lot of levity to the press conferences, even though he asked a lot of very difficult questions. He had a unique way of phrasing some of his opinions and questions, but he certainly added a flavor to the conferences that was very unique and I think we all came to appreciate his sense of humor, which at times was self-deprecating, but also he could definitely be tough and put you on the spot, which he did that many times to me, but in a respectful way. I enjoyed our interactions and the exchanges with him. It was, again, a very unique part of those daily sessions."

Bruce:

I am bummed, big-time, today. Alan Greenberg was a friend.

I go back more than 25 years, to his LA Times days. In all that time, I don't think we ever spent more than five minutes with him without there being a laugh. He was a tremendous companion.

Let me echo what I'm sure you've heard many times: he relished being a dad. The idea that he leaves behind three kids is appalling.

It's a loss to our business. He was a talent. Even more, he was an intellect. We can't replace him.

Bob Ryan

Bruce:

To give you yet another perspective on Alan:

Shortly after I joined the Hartford Courant in 1988, my brother Paul was killed in an automobile accident. He had three little boys. Alan Greenberg, with whom I had just started to work, consistently made it a point to ask me how Paul's kids were doing. We went out for pizza one night at the Hacienda in Somerville, and Alan, who was unmarried at the time, talked at great length about how much he wanted to raise a family, to have kids. It was a theme to which he often returned. I was not surprised, then, when I read this morning, in The Courant, the words Alan planned to use at his son's upcoming bar mitzvah:

"I've made my living writing about the accomplishments of great athletes, but my greatest accomplishment, my and your mother's greatest joy, is to introduce you and your sisters, Allison and Abby, as our children."

That would have been so Alan.

This has already been said by many others, yet bears repeating: Nobody disliked Alan. He will be missed.

Steve Buckley

Bruce, if you are compiling/posting thoughts on Alan and care to have mine.....

Alan was a kind and gentle soul, different than most of the rest of us. A little more intelligent, a little more thoughtful, a little less volume. But opinionated and tough-minded just the same. Overall, in the years I knew him he cared far more about his children than his job -- which is as it should be, of course. His passing his heart-breaking.


Mike Felger

Bruce

I just couldn't bring myself to write anything yesterday ... but I tried to gather myself this morning and pass along some of my thoughts ...

So many of Alan's colleagues and friends (with Alan they were one in the same) have expressed perfectly what he meant to all of us. I'd certainly echo those sentiments and considered Alan one of my closest friends in that room. Not a single day past when Alan wouldn't great us with a "Hello, PFW crew" followed by an individual "Hello PP" for me and "Hello SB" for Andy Hart. (That was a personal joke between the two). We'd follow with a "Hello Grampa Pigpen" a playful jab at both his experience and no-so-sartorial splendor.

I remember the first time I met Alan when I came to PFW in 1999. I'd never covered a pro beat before and I was assuming working for a team newspaper wouldn't exactly endear me to the experienced beat guys. I knew a lot of the writers from my time with the Herald, but I did not know Alan. Nick Cafardo introduced us and later explained to me how extensive and impressive Alan's career had been. I was rather intimidated and thought it would be wise to excentuate my experience at the Herald to justify myself in his eyes.

It took Alan 30 seconds to show me how foolish I was to think that way. He is the most down to Earth person I've met in more than 17 years in the business. He couldn't have been more helpful. I'll always remember the personal questions Andy and I used to tease him about (he once asked Mike Vrabel if his parents were proud of him. Mike laughed and said, "Alan, you're always asking those touchy/feely questions"). Of course, the teasing was more from jealousy because we wished we could craft a feature in the manner that he seemed to do so effortlessly. I read where his editor referred to him as a wordsmith -- never has that description been more true.

One personal moment I remember most, and not surprisingly not having anything to do with football ... my wife and I were trying to start a family and things weren't progressing as efficiently as we would have hoped. A doctor that we were consulting happened to be Alan's neighbor, and I brought this up to Alan. Immediately understanding the situation, Alan was so encouraging and talked in such glowing terms about the doctor, not so much for his expertise as for his kind and caring ways, which turned out to be dead on accurate. Anyway, a short time later we were blessed with our first child, Will, who recently turned 2.

Everyone in Foxboro learned of Will's arrival (mostly because his birth caused me to miss Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville), but Alan was particularly interested. I think in some way I gained extra respect from him for passing up the Super Bowl for something that was obviously more important. My wife and I are eagerly awaiting son No. 2 in April, and Alan seemed as genuinely excited about that as we are. Never a meeting went by without him asking about my kids, and me about his. In fact, I met his wife, Anne-Marie, when they were here at the stadium making arrangements for Alex's bar mitzvah.

Alan, you'll be missed, and may God give strength to your family in order to persevere through such a difficult time.

Paul Perillo

the rest can be seen at http://bostonsportsmedia.com/ (just scroll down a bit)

Butch Stearns wrote a blog about his memories of Alan at http://community.myfoxboston.com/blogs/Butch_Stearns/2007/03/09/Do_you_care_Show_it2

here's some of what Butch wrote:

Alan was a a true character but also a man of true character. He took his job seriously but never took himself too seriously. Although, I have been a colleague of Alan's for about ten years, I just got to know him a bit better these past few months by sharing a microphone with him on weekend shows on WEEI. As I found out, Alan and I shared many things in common. We were both about the same age (I'm 47), both overachieved by "marrying up" with woman who are probably out of our league, and both were raising three young children. When we would go to the commercial breaks during our radio shows Alan wouldn't continue the conversation about the "all important hot topic" that was being discussed on the radio that day. Alan would immediately steer the conversation to his family and my family and we would talk mostly about our kids. Nothing earthshattering, but we would talk about the real important stuff. How to talk to a teenager, what's proper clothing for your daughter to wear and why the hell do they love "High School Musical" so much?

please read some of the things that people have said about him and please, once again, give what ever you can even if its 10 dollars, just whatever you can.
Alan Greenberg, Hartford Courant sportswriter
Greenberg Children's Trust
c/o Citizens Bank
450 Boston Post Rd., Sudbury MA 01776

 

[pats1]

Re: Alan Greenberg Childrens' Trust

http://www.bostonsportsmedia.com/archives/2007/03/email_from_annemarie_greenberg.php

March 8, 2007
Email from Anne-Marie Greenberg

Dear Bruce,

I want to thank you and all of Alan's dear friends and colleagues for their beautiful tributes to my amazing husband. My children and I are devastated by the loss of Alan and we truly lost a treasure.

As I struggle to maintain strength for my children I am at a loss at how I will make sure they know and remember their father. This has been a tragedy for our family that I pray we can recover from. One of Alan's proudest moment was to happen this Saturday when our son Alex was to celebrate his Bar Mitzvah.

Everything that has been written about Alan is true and I hope his friends know how much they meant to him. He enjoyed every moment he spent with them and they were at tremendous source of happiness in his life. I also want to thank Stacey James and the Patriots for their help and kind words. I know Alan would appreciate it. One thing about Alan, he was tough and he said it like it is but he was always respectful and always commanded respect. I think what Bill Belichick said about him is testimony to that.

With Alan what you saw is what you got. But what many didn't see was the absolute love and adoration he had for his children. He would often say he worshiped them and he did. I ache for my children and this wonderful father they have lost.

I want to also thank his great friends at Fox Sports Net. The video tribute they did to Alan is something the children and I will treasure forever. When we are alone at home late at night, the four of us get on the couch for daddy time. Through many, many tears we have watched that video over and over again just so we can see his wonderful smile and listen to his voice. I will treasure the video as I know my children will. Thank you for giving us this piece of Alan.

Please keep us in your prayers. I will do my best to honor my husband and make sure my children grow up knowing what an amazing father they had. He was taken from us much too soon.

Sincerely,

Anne-Marie Greenberg

by Bruce | | 7:21 AM

 

[NE_PATS_FAN_54]

Re: Alan Greenberg Childrens' Trust

thank you very much for making this a sticky.

 

[townes]

That's awful, I hadn't heard this until I just read it. He was one of the most enjoyable of those who cover the Patriots imo.

Count me in.