Before Damon Runyon gave us Guys and Dolls, he was a teenage sportswriter in Pueblo. At fifteen, Runyon was already hammering out baseball stories between shots of whiskey. He bounced around Colorado newspapers, usually fired for heavy drinking — and, at the Denver Post, for letting a sex worker type up his stories.
But even in chaos, Runyon was always watching. A train-hopping trip introduced him to a crew of drifters. They provided the DNA for the carefully named gamblers and gangsters in his stories — Nathan Detroit, Harry the Horse, Good Time Charley.
Runyon moved to New York in 1910, kicked the bottle, and revolutionized sports writing, so much so he landed in both the Baseball AND Boxing Halls of Fame. Critics coined the term “Runyonesque” to describe his inimitable style. And back in Colorado? To this day, The Denver Press Club’s top honor still bears his name: the Damon Runyon Award.
About Colorado Postcards
Colorado Postcards are snapshots of our colorful state in sound. They give brief insights into our people and places, our flora and fauna, and our past and present, from every corner of Colorado.
