James A. Drake, 89, a longtime award-successful photographer for Athletics Illustrated magazine, who trotted the world and made some of his era’s most indelible visuals, died Monday, Jan. 10, of lung most cancers at his residence in Philadelphia.
Starting off in 1959, Mr. Drake expended almost 4 decades publishing some of the most iconic sports photographs ever taken. Sporting activities Illustrated devoted 79 of its well-known handles to his pictures, and his list of subjects is a who’s who of the sports activities scene throughout the 1960s, ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s.
Assigned to include some of the world’s most critical video games, matches, meets, fights, tournaments, and races, Mr. Drake photographed superstars in nearly each and every sport. Joe Namath, Nadia Comaneci, Bobby Orr, Arnold Palmer, Richard Petty, Muhammad Ali, Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle, Larry Fowl, Joe Paterno, Mike Tyson, Michael Jordan, and plenty of other folks grace his portfolio.
His action image of Palmer at the 1964 U.S. Open was even applied in 2020 on a U.S. postage stamp.
A lifelong Philadelphian and die-tough supporter of the Eagles, Phillies, and 76ers, Mr. Drake claimed some of his favourite photographs were being of Reggie White, Jerome Brown, Randall Cunningham, Mike Schmidt, Pete Rose, Wilt Chamberlain, Maurice Cheeks, and Julius Erving. Mr. Drake also made illustrations or photos of Presidents John F. Kennedy, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan Vice President Hubert Humphrey and actor Steve McQueen.
Mr. Drake was in Augusta, Ga., in 1963 when Jack Nicklaus gained his initially Masters tournament with a spectacular 3-foot putt on the last gap. He was at Madison Sq. Yard in 1971 when Joe Frazier conquer Ali in the to start with of their three popular fights. And he was at the 1972 Summer time Olympics in Munich, Germany, when Palestinian terrorists took 9 Israelis hostage.
If the celebration drew globally notice, it also drew Mr. Drake. “Jim was a gentleman in the truest sense of the phrase,” reported fellow photographer Neil Leifer, who, together with Mr. Drake and Walter Iooss Jr., anchored the Sports Illustrated photograph division for decades. “I deemed Jim the ideal photographer amongst the a few of us for the duration of that era, and in my impression he was the greatest golf photographer ever.”
Nearer to household, Mr. Drake took pics of the Mummers on New Year’s Day, exhausted rowers on the Schuylkill, and the Philadelphia landscape from all angles. He also contributed images to the 1968 e book Philadelphia: The Intimate Metropolis.
In addition to Sporting activities Illustrated, Mr. Drake’s pics appeared in Lifetime magazine, the Saturday Evening Write-up, and other publications. He left Sporting activities Illustrated in 1980 to turn into photograph editor at Inside Sports magazine. He returned to Athletics Illustrated in 1986 and stayed until finally 1990, when he still left to freelance for ABC Sporting activities. He retired in 1994.
Mr. Drake received several awards for his perform, which include the 2010 Lucie Award from the Los Angeles-based mostly Lucie Foundation for “achievement in sports images.” In a little bit of irony even he acknowledged to PennLive.com reporter David Jones in 2021, Mr. Drake stated: “I do not like my photo taken.”
Previous Sports activities Illustrated publisher Donald J. Barr, in describing a 1986 photograph essay on baseball, praised Mr. Drake for in search of a “subtler suggests of expressing the pressures and frustrations” of the gamers. One particular of his favourite pics in the display, Mr. Drake said then, was of an aged pitcher trudging off the field toward the locker area, “so expressive of the outdated-timer, yanked out, dissatisfied, bent and fatigued.”
Born April 6, 1932, and elevated in North Philadelphia, Mr. Drake was a star sprinter and hurdler in significant university at William Penn Charter School. He earned a bachelor’s diploma in English and journalism in 1955 from the College of Pennsylvania, put in two decades in the Military, and honed his eye at the Trentonian newspaper in Trenton and the Bucks County Traveler journal.
He met librarian Jean Casten in 1959 on assignment in Philadelphia. They married, had sons Chris and Patrick, and lived in Philadelphia. She died in 2016.
When he was not behind the camera, Mr. Drake preferred to paint in watercolors and pastels, view outdated Humphrey Bogart movies, camp, hike, and commit summertime times at Wildwood Crest.
Routinely a late sleeper thanks to his program, he would even so make his way to the living area in time for Eagles video games on Sundays, often exclaiming to his sons, “These early online games are murder.”
“He experienced a good perception of humor,” reported his son Patrick.
“He was the kindest, most light individual,” mentioned his son Chris. “He always advised us that he did what he generally dreamed of carrying out.”
In addition to his sons, Mr. Drake is survived by a few grandchildren and other relatives.
Solutions have been Saturday, Jan. 15.
Donations in his identify could be produced to Outdated Very first Reformed Church, 151 N. Fourth St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19106.