Bud Leavitt Jr.

Ralph W. "Bud" Leavitt Jr. (January 13, 1917 – December 20, 1994) was a Maine newspaperman who was executive sports editor of the Bangor Daily News, and a longtime outdoor columnist recognized statewide.

In addition to his writing, Leavitt hosted one of Maine's earliest television shows, which was devoted to fishing, hunting and the out-of-doors.

Leavitt's stature within the state was such that columnist Roy Blount Jr. wrote of the Maine sportswriter that he "fishes with Ted Williams and Red Smith – or, rather, they trout-fish with him.

"[1] An early conservationist and son of a paper mill union leader, Leavitt urged the state of Maine to acquire lands for public use; one such preserve is today named for the sportswriter and television personality.

[3] During his tenure as sports editor and outdoor columnist, Leavitt also occasionally filed stories to national publications, including Time magazine.

Leavitt also frequently hunted and fished with his friend Nelson Bryant, outdoor columnist for The New York Times, who wrote about their jaunts in his newspaper.

For the next 20 years Leavitt appeared every Saturday night to talk about the pressing issues of a Maine outdoorsman: how to remove a fishhook; the death of a favorite dog; snoeshowing and moose hunting and salmon fishing.

And the show's trademark music jingle is still the subject of Mainers posting to internet message boards, recalling Saturday night with beans and biscuits, watching Bud Leavitt.

Sometimes Leavitt was joined on his Maine TV show by friends like broadcaster Curt Gowdy, or baseball players Brooks Robinson or Ted Williams.

[9] "He was to outdoor journalism what Norman Rockwell was to art", wrote longtime Bangor Daily News sports columnist Larry Mahoney.

"One journalist with whom Williams had a genuine friendship was the late Bud Leavitt, former sports editor and outdoor writer for the Bangor Daily News", wrote Tony Chamberlain of The Boston Globe.

"Muskie throughout the rest of his career would say, 'You know, I fought for Dickey-Lincoln [Dam], and I prevented them from closing Loring, but the thing that people talk about is that fish.

Leavitt's essay most often collected in outdoor writing anthologies is "Hunting for Grouse and Woodcock" from his book Twelve Months in Maine.

Following his death, the State of Maine named the Bud Leavitt Wildlife Management Area, 6,500 acres (26 km2) of upland forest 25 miles (40 km) northwest of Bangor, in honor of the sportswriter, a longtime advocate for conservation and public lands.