Remembering Leo

It was with great sadness that I read today of the death of Leo Waldman, who founded the advertising departments of Daily Racing Form and its sister publication The Morning Telegraph in the 1950's.  Waldman died at his home in Hewlett, N. Y., at the age of 99.

The Brooklyn-born Waldman first worked as a sports writer for the now-defunct New York Herald Tribune, where he developed an interest in horse racing.  That led to a job with The Morning Telegraph, which was based in New York.  Later, he created its advertising department, as well as that at Daily Racing Form.

Back in the early 1990's, I worked at the Form's office in Hightstown, N. J., and was lucky enough to gain experience in several departments, including advertising.  It was while in advertising that I "met" Leo Waldman.  Leo, you see, was retired by then, but still wrote the New York breeding column, and he would call once a week to dictate that column to either myself or another employee.  Why he chose to dictate was always puzzling to me, since he very well could have typed it and faxed it in (this was way before the Internet was invented!).  But it was always a pleasant part of the week to listen to Leo on the telephone; he'd talk, and I'd type.  He was very articulate: "Distinctive Pro, comma, who sired three winners last week, comma, including the stakes-placed filly ..."  Period.  New paragraph.

We never called him "Leo" - it was always "Mr. Waldman."  It was months before I met him in person, at a Christmas party one year, but I remember he liked the gift I bought him, a tie clip that had a horse racing theme (I can't remember exactly what it was, it's been so long now).  A World War II veteran, Waldman wasn't a big man, but well-spoken and congenial.

After leaving the Form in 1993, I often thought about Leo Waldman, but regretfully did not keep in touch.  Since then, technology has dramatically changed the newspaper business, and the Form is largely an electronic creation, rather than one that is hand-made by writers, editors, typesetters and pressmen.  I will always look back fondly at those days in Hightstown, and its "greatest generation," which included Leo Waldman.