Our friend, brave Bill Lankhof covered everything under The Sun

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Bill Lankhof was at the point of his journalistic journey when I began interning at the Sun.

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That “Lanky” nickname had a double meaning, as he somehow bent his elongated body into a standard chair, tapping away at his bulky old-school computer terminal while a blue marker cut through galleys of pages amid swirls of cigarette smoke. His stern gaze, mustache and goatee looked intimidating to a newbie, as if he had walked from a portrait in a Dutch Masters cigar box to our chaotic sports department.

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Behind this was a smart and creative streak that we saw night after night, term after term, such as when the Maple Leafs called up four players from their St. Catharines farm team. Bill was from rural Chatham and dug through the files for an old photo of some hay riding on a harvest tractor and took four shots of the new guys on his four wheels.

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For a J-school kid with scant layout skills, this was the most amazing thing I've ever seen.

But editing copy, coming up with colorful Sun headlines and battling the whims of our unpredictable editor George Gross couldn't keep Bill in the bullpen forever. After a few hits on the trash can (he once threw a trash can across the office in a rage when George ordered a section to be redone at 10 p.m.), Bill wanted to see how the other half lived as beatnik writer and, ultimately, a columnist.

CAREER CHANGE

He loved hearing war stories from veteran reporters at the bar after the paper went to bed or when our Sun Flashers softball team battled in Press League games. Lankey was our stalwart third baseman, but always brought his sons Ryan and Phil to watch while Charlie the Wonder Dog interrupted the game.

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George's edict was to cover any and all forms of art, and Bill joined us for the Leafs, Blue Jays and Argos, sometimes on the same day. Whether it was horse racing, auto racing, football or rhythmic gymnastics, he took every task seriously, striving to understand what made the athlete tick.

The big news often found Bill rather than the other way around, as when his only Leaf trip to Hartford came on the day Harold Ballard fired general manager Jerry McNamara through a phone booth at the Civic Center.

And while some of us might begrudge the feelings of a player, coach or executive, Bill proudly said, “I never apologize.” Take Darcy Tucker, for example, who didn't like being called a hitman and Robbie Alomar who hasn't spoken to Bill for weeks. Former Blue Jays manager Jimi Williams publicly criticized him for igniting the manager's feud with George Bell, with Bell enjoying the show from his booth.

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PROBLEM WITH TUCKER, ALOMAR

It was as far away as baseball fan Bill could be from the idyllic days under his grandmother's willow tree, listening to Ernie Harwell call Detroit Tiger games, or his father fiddling with the television knobs to turn on the Leafs on the black-and-white television.

Just when Newfoundlanders thought they had heard discouraging words about their home in Bill's curling opus Brad Gushue, the nicest people in Canada hit our Bill with a flood of calls.

Lankey retired in 2016 after nearly 45 years of inking.

“After several thousand columns, stories, headlines and deadlines, it’s time to say goodbye to a place, time and people I hold dear,” he wrote in parting. “A veteran newsboy is a little like an aging pitcher or a hockey player who's lost his stride. The game is still playable, it's just that every game isn't the best game anymore. So it makes sense to leave. But not without melancholy. Not without memories.”

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Many of Bill's best memories are with Sun Baseball Hall of Famer Bob Elliott. Bill covered Bob's induction into Cooperstown in 2012, and he and his son Phil were invited on corporate boss Pierre Carl Péladeau's private jet to join Bob for the ceremony.

“Bill wrote a story every day,” Elliott said gratefully. “I remember Bill spotting a blue jay on our hotel grounds and saying Hall had spared no expense.

“On the way home, he mentioned how nervous he was about the assignment. I said, 'I should accompany you on the plane because you've always been a better writer.'

“He was a dear friend of mine.”

For years we've been teasing Bill about an important Leaf story that he once missed at the Gardens when he opted for a feel-good story about local player Mark Kirton. If only we had known that the demon known as ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease, would eventually claim both men: Kirton this summer after years of advocating for better ALS resources, and our beloved Bill at 72 on Thursday after his own battle.

FOUGHT TERRIBLY AGAINST ALS

Despite his debilitating illness, Bill remained cheerful and was supported by visits from old colleagues to his institution.

“Bill could do almost anything,” Steve Simmons said. “Write news, columns, articles – and he was an amazing editor. And all without any ego. That's very important for our business.”

Bill's daily column was called “The Last Word”, so it will be here along with the last paragraph for 2016.

“I'm grateful. I achieved my dream. Everyone should be so lucky.”
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