So sorry to hear! My heart aches for his beautiful family, which he valued far and beyond his literary success. "Great writer and even better person." Perhaps not the most original statement, as so many others have said the same of Lonnie, but the description clearly is apt. That said, few journalistic greats measured up to Lonnie as wordsmiths--and even fewer as people. Unlike many in the press box, he won respect by whispering rather than shouting, while striking a seemingly perfect balance between family and job. One could learn as much from studying his life as from reading his work.

So many fond memories of Lonnie from college--when he made covering the Missouri football beat an art form--and well beyond. Hard to fathom the loss of Steve Coburn several years ago and now Lonnie. They were such great friends with each other and with so many of us at Mizzou. Thankfully, our paths crossed frequently after leaving Columbia, notably when Lonnie spent the summer of 1987 in Chicago writing his "Bleachers" book about Wrigley Field, where I was covering baseball for the Sun-Times. To this day, my loving wife of almost 36 years still knows next to nothing about baseball. But she knows Lonnie Wheeler was a great guy.