Beat goes on
for sports writer

When Len Hoyes began covering sports in Flint, the Korean War was just starting and the city had only two Class A high schools: Northern and Central. Flint Tech was Class B.

THE FLINT JOURNAL / STEVE JESSMORE Len Hoyes enjoys a laugh at his desk in sports. Age: 75 Home: Mundy Township Background: Flint Journal sports writer, October 1950 to present. First beat writer for the Flint Generals. Education: Michigan State University. Also attended college in Pennsylvania. Personal: Married. Two children. Memorable story: After the Beecher tornado in 1953, he spent 16 hours reporting at a temporary morgue at the National Guard Armory.

It was 1950, and with a four-man sports staff, Hoyes and one other sports writer covered all local sports teams, including an array of smaller schools that competed in county B and C leagues.

“(Doug Mintline) took the city schools and I took everything else,” Hoyes said. “Obviously, we couldn’t devote as much space to them because we didn’t have the personnel. ... (Working only) 37¹/₂ hours (a week) was unheard of.”

Nearly 51 years later, he’s still doing it.

Hoyes this year became the second member of The Flint Journal’s 50-year club. Retired publisher’s assistant and advertising director Ed Mitchell is the other.

A Pennsylvania native, Hoyes worked a newspaper job in Niles, Ohio, become coming to Flint in October 1950.

Hoyes covered several high school state championships and became the first beat writer for the Flint Generals when they started in 1969. He also was the first Booth Newspapers writer to cover the Detroit Red Wings.

Hoyes watched the newspaper’s production evolve from hot type to photo composition to pagination.

“The switch from hot type to electronics has been amazing,” he said. “It’s allowed us to do more things quicker. In our business, the quicker you can get the news out, the better it is. It used to take two hours to get what we do now in 10 minutes.”

Hoyes retired from the newspaper in 1992, but still works part time in the sports department.

He and his wife have a son and a daughter and live in Mundy Township.

— Ken Palmer