His latest book, The Old Ball Game, about Christy Mathewson and John McGraw and baseball at the turn of the century, was published in March 2005 by Atlantic Monthly Press. Frank Deford also wrote the screenplay for an original film, Trading Hearts. His latest theatrical screenplay, The Sister-In-Law, a comedy, is being produced by Lions Gate, and ESPN will filmed his screenplay, Four Minutes, about Roger Bannister and the four-minute mile in 2005.

As a journalist, Deford was most recently presented with the National Magazine Award for profiles for his story on Bill Russell. He has been elected to the Hall of Fame of the National Association of Sportscasters and Sportswriters. Six times Deford was voted by his peers as U.S. Sportswriter of The Year. The American Journalism Review has likewise cited him as the nation's finest sportswriter, and twice he was voted Magazine Writer of The Year by the Washington Journalism Review.

Deford has been presented with a Christopher Award and journalism Honor Awards from the University of Missouri and Northeastern University, and he has received a number of honorary degrees. The Sporting News has described Deford as "the most influential sports voice among members of the print media," and the magazine GQ has called him, simply, "the world's greatest sportswriter." In broadcast, Deford has won both an Emmy and a George Foster Peabody Award.

For sixteen years, Deford served as national chairman of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and he remains chairman emeritus. He resides in Westport, Connecticut, with his wife, Carol. They have two children -- a son, Christian, and a daughter, Scarlet. A native of Baltimore, Deford is a graduate of Princeton University, where he has taught in American Studies.