Sports Writer Jeff Pearlman’s Pen Never Fades Away

The Pearlman household has received two newspapers: The New York Times and The Reporter Dispatch. Jeff’s father is assigned to read the news section, his brother the business section, and his mother the features section. Jeff takes the sports section.

“[Sports] was the only section my mom would allow anyone to take into the bathroom…I would sit there in the bathroom poring over it, studying the pictures, the words, the whole thing,” Jeff said. Of course, the bathroom was not the only place young Jeff did his reading. He was a frequent visitor to the local library, where he read the latest editions of Sports Illustrated , a magazine his non-sports-loving parents refused to subscribe to.

Flash forward to the present day, and it is safe to say that all the reading 10-year-old Jeff did has paid off. As a New York Times best-selling author of 11 books — including one that was made into an HBO original series — and with stints at Sports Illustrated , Newsday, and ESPN. com , Jeff’s notoriety has spread far beyond Mahopac — where it all began.

Why Jeff Pearlman Started Writing But what led to Jeff wanting to write about sports? Just like nearly every kid growing up, it was for one reason: to be noticed. When Jeff began writing for his high school newspaper, that’s when he started to get his name out there.