Document Type
Interview
Publication Date
Summer 2009
Abstract
Robert S. Lyons, Jr. (1939-2013) graduated from La Salle College in 1961. The following is his obituary from McGhee Funeral Home:
"Robert S. Lyons, Jr., of Upper Southampton, died Wednesday, June 5, 2013. He was 73. Born June 29, 1939, in Philadelphia, PA, Bob was the son of the late Robert and Catharine Lyons. Bob is survived by his; beloved wife Joan M. Lyons (nee Lang); children, Joanne Jenkins (Ken), Robert P., M.D. (Renee), Richard (Leanne), David (Julie), and Gregory. He will also be missed by his 11 grandchildren. Bob Lyons, the author of Palestra Pandemonium: A History of the Big 5, and On Any Given Sunday: A Life of Bert Bell, and co-author of The Eagles Encyclopedia (with Ray Didinger) and Big Al: Fifty Years of Adventures in Sports Broadcasting (with Al Meltzer) has been president of his own suburban-Philadelphia-based editorial services and public relations firm, since 1995. He has provided professional services to a variety of organizations including the Associated Press, Brandywine Global Investment Management, La Salle University, Merrill Lynch, Elf Atochem, Princeton University, and Philadelphia’s WHYY-TV, among others. Before forming his consulting firm, Lyons served in a number of capacities at La Salle University including director of the News Bureau, editor of LA SALLE, the university’s alumni quarterly magazine, and lecturer in the Communication Department, teaching courses in journalism, public relations, and advertising. A 1961 graduate of La Salle, Lyons joined the university in 1962 as the school’s first sports information director. During his seven-year tenure as SID, La Salle’s basketball media brochure was honored four times for excellence as the best publication in Dis-trict II (East) by the United States Basketball Writers Association. Lyons has also worked as a commercial advertising and public relations account executive, a news and sports reporter for The (former) Philadelphia Bulletin, and the public relations consultant for Abington (PA) Township. He was a sports correspondent for the Associated Press for more than 35 years before retiring in 2011. He has contributed free lance articles to numerous national publications including The Saturday Evening Post, Christian Science Monitor, Nation’s Business, Delta SKY Magazine, The Sporting News, and Baseball Digest, among others. The past president and former chairman of the board of the Philadelphia Public Relations Association, Lyons has also served on the boards of the Philadelphia Sportswriters Association and La Salle University Alumni Association, as well as the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame selection committee. A native of Philadelphia and a 1957 graduate of Northeast Catholic High School, he was a Democratic Committeeman in the 23rd Division of the 50th Ward in the northwest section of the city from 1964 to 1971. He has also been a lector at St. Raymond of Penafort and Our Lady of Good Counsel Churches." https://mcgheefuneralhome.com/book-of-memories/1599831/lyons-robert/obituary.php
Recommended Citation
Lyons, Robert S. Jr. and Becker, Christina, "Interview of Robert S. Lyons, Jr." (2009). All Oral Histories. 116.
https://digitalcommons.lasalle.edu/histdeptohall/116
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