John Valerino, Ledger sports editor for 24 years since the 1970s, dies at 70

LAKELAND — John Valerino arrived at The Ledger in 1974, just prior to tremendous growth The Ledger experienced and just before tremendous growth in sports in Central Florida.

Five years later, he became sports editor and spent 24 years in the position, guiding the department as the paper went from an afternoon to a morning paper and circulation, which was about 30,000, tripled. He led a staff that won numerous state and national awards and did so while fostering deep loyalty among his staff with his positive and upbeat personality.

Valerino, one month after undergoing heart surgery after a heart attack, died Saturday morning. He was 70. He had been at home and appeared to be recovering.

"We were thinking we were turning the corner," his wife, Lorraine, said. "We thought we were on the back end of it. We knew there was a road to go, but we thought we'd gotten through the worst."

'A way of connecting'

For all his talents as a journalist and sports editor, it was who he was a person that stood out the most, former colleagues and friends said.

"You meet John, and after you talk to him for 10 minutes, you feel like this guy is my friend," said Mike Cobb, a former Ledger sports writer who was best friends with Valerino since they met as freshmen at Florida Southern. "He just had a way of connecting with the people. John was my very best friend and there were times when I was irritated with him a little bit. I know there were times when he was irritated with me. But you were able to talk to him and work through it. I think that's the mark of good leadership. You recognize the situations. It wasn't OK, let's sit down and talk about this. Our work relationship never affected our personal friendship, you know. He wouldn't let it; I wouldn't let it. I always respected him for that, and I think everybody had a similar relationship with him that worked for him."

Born May 26, 1952 in Ohio, Valerino grew up in Ohio and Clearwater before moving to to Windsor, Connecticut, where he graduated high school. He developed a passion for sports in his youth. He was a die-hard Dallas Cowboys fan and became a fan of the Boston Red Sox and Boston Celtics after the move to Connecticut in 1967.

Cobb remembered many nights going to sleep in the Florida Southern dorm listening to sports albums that Valerino had from the Red Sox's Impossible Dream season and the Celtics' "Havlicek Stole the Ball" moment.

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Valerino played baseball and had scouts from the Red Sox and Giants interested.

"Tendinitis in my right pitching arm, though, turned my arm into Silly Putty and ended that goal, so I thought the best way to stay in sports was to report it," Valerino wrote in his Ledger farewell column in 2003.

Valerino chose Florida Southern because he was advised to go to college in the South because of his allergies, which didn't affect him as much when he was in Florida. He went to elementary school in Clearwater, and his family was familiar with the area.

At Florida Southern, Valerino was editor of the student newspaper, then began his career at the News Chief in Winter Haven. Less than a year later, The Ledger hired him.

'There was no better place to be'

In his farewell column, Valerino credited Golfweek magazine founder Charlie Stine with his learning the "nuts and bolts of the business."

Valerino became sports editor in 1979 at the beginning of tremendous growth for the paper.

"When John was sports editor, there was no better place to be to cover sports, and there was an explosion of sports around here at every level," former longtime Ledger sports writer Dick Scanlon said. "For a long time, people wondered why there was so little turnover on our staff. It was because we felt like we were part of a team that was usually winning, or functioning. To me that was more important than making a few more bucks doing something else."

Scanlon was sports editor at the News Chief when Valerino was hired, and five years later, Valerino hired him at The Ledger.

Organized, detailed oriented and a good communicator, Valerino fostered an environment in which everyone knew what was expected, former staffers said.

"He had a high standard," Cobb said. "You had a high bar, a high standard. He expected the writers to meet that bar, and he had the personality where you really wanted to work for John. He's a really good motivator and getting people to to to do the right things. He's one of the reasons I think for years The Ledger basically overproduced because he had a way of pushing people to do more to where the people didn't know they were being pushed and they wanted to do it.

"You didn't just hear from the boss when you made a mistake," Cobb said. "You heard from him when he thought you did something good, too."

As sports editor, he fought for his staff, they said, whether it was getting more office space for the growing staff in the '80s or getting a fax machine so the desk editor could be more efficient.

Valerino, who still covered Florida Southern basketball for many years after becoming sports editor, especially shined at big projects. He was the regional sports editor for the New York Times Regional Newspapers and coordinated coverage for big events, including the Olympics, when multiple newspapers in the chain were covering the event.

"John was an immensely talented sports editor," former executive editor Skip Perez said. "Not just a sports editor, he had talents that went beyond sports as well. We used him often for special projects like redesign."

Perez said that when other papers in the group had issues, Valerino often would be sent to troubleshoot situations.

"I called on him quite a bit for those kind of extra-curricular duties beyond running the sports department," Perez said. "John was always very agreeable and eager. He brought a lot of energy, creativity and commitment to whatever assignment he had."

At The Ledger, Valerino was especially proud of the 13-page series on Steve Spurrier, written by Cobb and former news reporter Logan Mabe, and the 12-part series on Bobby Bowden, written by Cobb and former news reporter Rick Rousos.

"He was so proud of his staff," Lorraine said. "I mean, truly proud of how good the staff was. Over the course of his career, there was seemingly low turnover because people stayed because they were happy with what they were doing, and they were good at it. I know he was pretty pleased about all the awards people won over the years. He just took a lot of pride producing the best possible product."

It was more than his ability as a sports editor that stood out.

"He was an extraordinary sports editor and an extraordinary person," said Hunter George, a former Ledger managing editor. "He was a good leader and he was a good friend. The guy just had a great sense of humor, and he knew his sports. He knew Florida sports and was just an extraordinary guy."

Former news editor Jim Clark recalled the great times he had sitting around the newsroom talking to Valerino at night while waiting to proof pages.

"I spent many night shifts working with John and grew to respect him as a journalist," Clark said. "But the most fun came during that down time between deadline and when the paper appeared on our desks. That's when we really got to know each other."

'A good synchro dad'

As much as he loved being a journalist, the love of his life was Lorraine. They met when she was an intern during her senior year at Troy State (now Troy University) and were married on Oct. 23, 1982.

Lorraine won many awards as a performer and a coach in synchronized swimming, and Valerino was her biggest supporter. Their oldest daughter, Mackenzie, swam and their younger daughter, Quinn, swam for a little while.

"He was a good synchro dad," Lorraine said. "He really liked those kids. He liked how hard they worked. My sport doesn't get a lot of recognition that it probably deserves, and he was always defending that kind of thing."

One day in his pool when he thought no one was looking, Lorraine said she saw him try a basic synchronized position and got a Charley horse, forcing him to scramble to the side of the pool.

The Valerinos loved going to Disney World and were very active in their church. Besides their two daughters, Mackenzie Morgan and Quinn Valerino, they have seven grandchildren from ages 4 to 19.

And in addition to his love of sports, Valerino was a big fan of Laurel and Hardy, the famous comedy duo who were active from the 1920s through the '50s. In college, he had several of their movies on film – this being long before VHS tapes and DVDs – and would play them in the dorm, Cobb said. One night, he turned the film projector out the window to a blank wall and entertained passersby.

'You've absolutely saved my life'

Valerino retired from The Ledger while battling depression that he fought to overcome, his wife said. He wrote two books that proved therapeutic and helped with his recovery.

"Depression is not who he was, it's just something he had to deal with," Lorraine said. "People don't want to talk about mental health, and we did. We had two different couples where the husbands were badly battling depression and didn't go get any help. And after us discussing our story, they went, both of these gentlemen, and got help.

"He was able to help other people by sharing his story, not realizing they were also struggling and some of these two men in particular made the decision to go get themselves help. And the one guy said to him, John you saved my life; you've absolutely saved my life."

In writing the two books, he interviewed many former Major League Baseball players. The first was "Turning Two: Baseball's Classic Keystone Combinations" and the second was "Ted & Joe: Players' Memories of Two Icons."

"He was proud of those books, and should be," Cobb said.

Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. on March 10 at Heath Funeral Home in Lakeland. The funeral mass will be at Resurrection Catholic Church at 10:30 am. on March 11.

Roy Fuoco can be reached at roy.fuoco@theledger.com.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: John Valerino, Ledger sports editor for nearly a quarter century, dies