David Climer

{{Short description|American sports columnist (1953–2020)}} {{Infobox person | image = | caption = | name = David Climer | birth_date = 1953 | death_date = {{death date and given age|2020|1|19|66}} | birth_place = | death_place = Nashville, Tennessee | occupation =Sports journalist | years_active = 1974-2015 | education = }}

'''David Climer''' (1953 – January 19, 2020) was a sports reporter and columnist for over four decades at ''The Tennessean'', from 1974 to 2015.

Climer was raised in Lebanon, Tennessee, where he wrote for the school newspapers at Lebanon Junior High and Lebanon High School (where he was also a pitcher on the baseball team) before joining the ''Lebanon Democrat'' as a sportswriter.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Xavier |title=Lebanon native, sports columnist Climer dies |url=https://www.wilsonpost.com/news/lebanon-native-sports-columnist-climer-dies/article_836063d2-3ce0-11ea-aeae-533c46e5c6bb.html |work=The Wilson Post |date=January 22, 2020}}</ref>

In 1974, he began writing for ''The Tennessean'' on a part-time basis, earning a full-time assignment covering Tennessee State University in 1977. In 1984, he was assigned to the beat for University of Tennessee sports. In 1994, he became a columnist, writing about local and national sports stories.<ref name="tenn-obit">{{cite news |last1=Estes |first1=Gentry |title=David Climer, longtime Tennessean sports columnist, dies |url=https://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/2020/01/19/david-climer-tennessean-sports-columnist-dies/4519295002/ |work=The Tennessean |date=January 19, 2020}}</ref>

Climer retired from The Tennessean in 2015. He continued to write columns for ''The Ledger'', a weekly publication in Tennessee.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Climer |first1=David |title=This job has been a dream come true |url=https://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/columnist/david-climer/2015/10/30/david-climer-farewell-column/74807798/ |work=The Tennessean |date=October 29, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Climer |first1=David |title=The sporting life of David Climer |url=https://www.tnledger.com/editorial/Article.aspx?id=85398 |work=The Ledger |date=November 20, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=McCormick |first1=Terry |title=Former Ledger, Tennessean columnist David Climer remembered |url=http://www.tnledger.com/editorial/Article.aspx?id=125213 |work=The Ledger |date=January 17, 2020}}</ref>

Over his career, Climer was named among the top ten columnists in the country by the Associated Press sports editors three times. In 2015, he was named to the Tennessee Sports Writers Hall of Fame.<ref name="tenn-obit"/>

In retirement, Climer moved to Fripp Island, South Carolina, with his wife, Rebecca.<ref name="tenn-obit"/>

In late 2019, Climer revealed that he had stage 4 pancreatic cancer. He died in Nashville, Tennessee on Sunday, January 19, 2020. He was 66.<ref name="tenn-obit"/><ref>{{cite news |last1=Wiedmer |first1=Mark |title=David Climer was a sports-writing giant taken too soon |url=https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/sports/columns/story/2020/jan/20/wiedmer-david-climer-wsports-writing-giant-ta/513487/ |work=Chattanooga Times Free Press |date=January 20, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Pearlman |first1=Jeff |title=David Climer: Former sports columnist, The (Nashville) Tennessean |url=https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/david-climer-former-sports-columnist-nashville-tennessean/id1252080948?i=1000461172519 |website=Two Writers Slinging Yang |publisher=iTunes |date=December 31, 2019}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Climer, David}} Category:2020 deaths Category:American sports journalists Category:Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Tennessee Category:People from Lebanon, Tennessee Category:1953 births