John Feinstein, the veteran journalist who won acclaim for his nearly 50 books about sports, has died at 69, the Washington Post reports.

Feinstein, a New York native, was educated at Duke University, where he was a member of the swim team until a foot injury sidelined his athletic ambitions and he joined the school’s newspaper. He started at the Post as an intern in 1977 and remained with the paper for decades.

In 1986, he published his first book, A Season on the Brink, which chronicled the 1985–1986 season of the Indiana Hoosiers men’s college basketball team and its coach, the famously hot-tempered Bob Knight.

He went on to write dozens more nonfiction books about sports, including A Good Walk Spoiled, A March to Madness, The Majors, Quarterback, and, most recently, The Ancient Eight. He also wrote more than a dozen sports-themed children’s books, including Change-Up, The Rivalry, and Benchwarmers.

Feinstein’s admirers paid tribute to him on social media. On the platform X, sports commentator Skip Bayless wrote, “RIP John Feinstein. Good man. Great reporter/storyteller. Keen eye. Could get close to subjects while remaining fearlessly objective. Nobody worked harder. Nobody was more productive.”

And golfer Tom Watson posted, “One of our sports world’s finest writers, John Feinstein, sadly left us today. His innate ability to describe the inner workings and complexities of the players, teams, and coaches about which he wrote, left us readers and fans with much greater understanding of his subjects. He was always an enjoyable read, and we will sorely miss him.”

Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.