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'{{for|the baseball player|Ed Lucas (baseball)}} '''Edward Lucas''' is an Emmy winning broadcaster, author, and motivational speaker. He has interviewed thousands of sports figures and celebrities over a career spanning seven decades. Lucas been inducted into three different Halls of Fame. ==Early life== On October 3, 1951, after watching the [[San Francisco Giants|New York Giants]] defeat the [[Brooklyn Dodgers]] to win the National League Pennant on a tiny little black and white TV, Ed Lucas, who was just twelve years old, went out to play baseball with his friends. He was struck in face by a line drive and subsequently lost his sight. Ed was depressed. He pictured himself as a helpless soul standing on a street corner with a cup and a cane selling pencils. His mother did two things that changed his life. First, she enrolled him in a revolutionary school for the blind run by nuns who believed that blind people could do anything they set out to do if they could just learn to be independent and have to self-confidence.<ref name=Today>Dotson, Bob (April 12, 2006). [http://www.today.com/id/12271170/ns/today/t/baseball-field-dreams-blind-reporter/ "Baseball a field of dreams for blind reporter"]. ''[[Today (U.S. TV program)|Today]]''.</ref> Second, she wrote letters to [[Leo Durocher]], the manager of the NY Giants, and to [[Bobby Thomson]], the home run hero, explaining what had happened to Ed, and how his love of baseball was the only thing lifting his spirits. Durocher invited Ed to be his guest at the [[Polo Grounds]] for the 1952 season. Yankees star [[Phil Rizzuto]], who worked at a New Jersey clothing shop in the off season, heard about Ed’s story, and also befriended him.<ref name=Today/> This friendship lasted a lifetime, until Phil Rizzuto's death in 2007.<ref>http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2974097</ref> After graduating from grammar school, Ed attended the [[New York Institute for the Blind]] where he organized a baseball club called the Diamond Dusters. Major League stars such as [[Jackie Robinson]] and [[Lindy McDaniel]] visited the school to talk baseball and to read the sports pages to the students.<ref>http://articles.philly.com/1988-05-05/news/26264046_1_lucas-files-radio-station-darryl-strawberry</ref> Lucas enrolled in [[Seton Hall University]], earning a degree in communications in 1962.<ref>Matthews, Jill (September 17, 2008). [http://www.shu.edu/news/article/56329 "'As He Sees It' The Baseball Life of Ed Lucas"]. [[Seton Hall University]].</ref> He was one of the first blind students in the country to regularly attend classes with a Seeing Eye Dog. While at Seton Hall Ed started taking a reel-to-reel tape recorder to games to interview players. He had his own radio show, "Around the Bases With Ed Lucas" on WSOU, one of the premiere college radio stations in the United States.<ref>http://www.hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/2416232/matchbin</ref> ==Marriage, fatherhood, and custody battle== In October 1965, Lucas got married.<ref name=Today/> Shortly after that, two sons - Edward M. Lucas and [[Christopher Lucas]] - were born. In 1972, his wife walked out on the marriage, leaving Ed alone with two little boys to raise. His family pitched in to help. At the same time, the [[New York Yankees]] were starting to regain prominence, so his workload became heavier. Ed still managed to balance both lives, while buying a larger house for his boys, his mother and sister.{{fact|date=March 2014}} In September 1979, after seven years, Lucas' former wife filed a motion seeking custody of their sons. The courts agreed, taking Ed's children away from him, simply because he was disabled. He was told to just drop the case and forget about the boys. Lucas went to court to and fought a long appeal, as his case made its way up to the [[New Jersey Supreme Court]]. On September 25, 1980, Lucas was awarded full and complete custody of his children, making legal history as he became one of the first disabled people in the United States to win custody of their children from a non-disabled spouse and one of the few males to ever succeed in a custody case, up to that point.<ref>Walk, John (July 28, 2011). [http://www.forsight.org/resources/in-the-news/82-ed-lucas-well-known-sports-journalist-and-speaker-comes-to-york "Ed Lucas, well-known sports journalist and speaker, comes to York"]. ForSight Vision.</ref> ==Career== After graduating from college, it took Ed a while to establish himself as a professional broadcaster. As a blind person trying to make his way in a business traditionally limited to the sighted, Lucas faced many challenges. He was able to prove himself with freelance jobs for local and national television and radio stations, but many of his peers at the time in the media corps bristled at the inclusion of a disabled person in their ranks. They accused Ed's employers of hiring him just for show. Ed ignored the doubters and pressed on. He eventually earned the respect of his interview subjects and his fellow reporters by taking a different approach, often focused on describing things that sighted people take for granted. Lucas is now one of the elder statesmen in the Press Box, frequently called on by younger reporters for advice and information. He also set a record in 2015 by attending his 60th straight Yankee Stadium home opener as a member of the press, a streak that began in 1956. Ed eclipsed former Yankee P.A. announcer Bob Sheppard's streak of 56 straight. ==Marriage at home plate in Yankee Stadium== In the late 1980s, Lucas was introduced by [[Phil Rizzuto]] to Allison Pfeifle, his florist, who was also legally blind. After a long courtship, Lucas married Allison at home plate in [[Yankee Stadium (1923)|Yankee Stadium]] on March 10, 2006. This was the first time that anyone was allowed to be married in that hallowed spot.<ref>Coyne, Kevin (March 18, 2007). [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/18/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/18NJCol.html?_r=1&ex=1175140800&en=16a1c76f6d2e2a58&ei=5070&oref=slogin "Baseball Stole His Eyes, but Not His Passion"]. ''[[The New York Times]]''.</ref><ref>Dotson, Bob (April 12, 2006). [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12271170/from/RSS "Baseball a field of dreams for blind reporter"]. ''Today''.</ref> ==Honors and recognition== In 1995, Lucas was inducted into the [[New Jersey Sports Writers Association Hall of Fame]], alongside a class that included Super Bowl winning quarterback [[Joe Theismann]] and Baseball Hall of Famer [[Larry Doby]]. In 2001, Ed was honored to be chosen, along with his sons, as one of the inspirational people to carry the Olympic flame through the streets of New York City on its way to the [[2002 Winter Olympics]].<ref>http://www.edlucas.org/about.html</ref> The Msgr. William Noé Field Archives & Special Collections Center in conjunction at [[Seton Hall University]] sponsored an exhibit of photographs and memorabilia from Ed's career in the Walsh Library Arcade from August to November 2007.<ref>http://www.shu.edu/news/article/56329#.VAn2S7B8PmQ</ref> In 2008, Seton Hall, with the support of WCBS 880 AM, the Yankees Radio Network, created Strikeouts for Scholarships, a scholarship program for disabled students in honor of Ed Lucas.<ref>http://www.shu.edu/strikeouts-for-scholarships-lucas-bio.cfm</ref> In 2008-2009, Lucas won an Emmy Award for his work with YESNetwork.com.<ref>[http://premierespeakers.com/ed_lucas "Ed Lucas"]. Premiere Speakers Bureau. Retrieved March 4, 2014.</ref> Lucas has a show with the network's website, ''The Ed Lucas Show'', in which he discusses stories of adversity with different players and celebrities.<ref>http://web.yesnetwork.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080806&content_id=1451180&vkey=4</ref> On July 7, 2009, Ed Lucas was inducted into the [[Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame]],<ref>{{cite web|first=Harvey|last=Zucker|title=Hudson's Ed Lucas named to Irish-American Baseball Hall of Fame|date=July 5, 2009|publisher=[[NJ.com]]|url=http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2009/07/hudsons_ed_lucas_named_to_iris.html|accessdate=2011-01-26}}</ref> along with longtime Dodgers owner [[Walter O'Malley]], broadcaster [[Vin Scully]], sluggers [[Steve Garvey]] and [[Paul O'Neill (baseball)|Paul O'Neill]], and umpire [[Jim Joyce]]. ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== *{{official|http://www.edlucas.org}} {{New York Yankees}} {{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. --> | NAME = Lucas, Ed | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = American sportscaster | DATE OF BIRTH = January 3, 1939 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = }} {{DEFAULTSORT:Lucas, Ed}} [[Category:American male writers]] [[Category:American broadcasters]] [[Category:New York Yankees broadcasters]] [[Category:New York Mets broadcasters]] [[Category:Blind people from the United States]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Seton Hall University alumni]] [[Category:1939 births]] [[Category:People from Jersey City, New Jersey]] [[Category:Writers from New Jersey]]'