Iowa Newspaper’s Sportswriter Dies on the Job

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier says its longtime sportswriter died of an apparent heart attack just after completing work on the newspaper's sports pages.

61-year-old Jim Sullivan - a Minnesota native -  was found at his desk early Friday. The Courier reports medics couldn't revive Sullivan.

Courier Sports Editor Doug Newhoff called Sullivan "an icon and an institution in our business."

He grew up in Two Harbors, Minnesota, and graduated from the University of Minnesota. He worked at the Mesabi Daily News in Virginia, Minnesota, and the Journal-Standard in Freeport, Illinois, before joining the Courier in 1984.

Sullivan covered all kinds of athletics, from high school to the University of Northern Iowa and Iowa State University.

He's survived by his wife, Kim, and son, Pete.