John Fay

John Fay had two loves in his life.

The first was his wife, Laura, who grew up across the street from him on Cincinnati’s West Side and was his guiding light for over 50 years.

“She was his life,” said nephew Dan Heimbrock. “It was John and Laura or Laura and John.”

The second was a passion for writing.

For six decades, Fay’s byline appeared in The Cincinnati Enquirer, and he earned a reputation for his ability to cover anything well. “The curse of versatility,” one colleague called it.

He wrote about the Cincinnati Bengals; UC, Xavier and Miami; high schools (including his beloved Elder Panthers); Olympic medalists; Thanksgiving Day Race winners and everything in between.

But his largest journalistic impact came as the paper’s Cincinnati Reds beat writer. It was a dream job for the quiet, skinny Elder High School graduate starting in the 1980’s. He loved covering the Reds, even though it meant being on the road away from Laura for weeks at a time.

“He took everything in stride,” said Reds Hall of Fame announcer Marty Brennaman. “It was tough work, not glamorous.”

Reds owner Bob Castellini called Fay a thoughtful writer with a no-nonsense and direct approach to reporting on the club.

When Laura was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer in 2016, Fay was her constant caregiver and supporter. She died in January, 2023. Fay, himself, went through chemotherapy for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and retired from the Reds beat in 2020. However, he still posted frequently about the team.

He died of a heart attack in August of 2023 at age 66.