I’m a freelance writer living in New York City. My nonfiction stories have appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, Tablet, and Grantland, among other publications. My article about basketball in Tibet, for which I was awarded a grant from the Pulitzer Center, was a Notable Story in the Best American Sports Writing 2020. I’ve also written about my mis-adventures in Las Vegas while trying to interview Seth Rogen; an unlikely basketball dynasty in the middle of Manhattan; a blind 102-year-old painter who was a renowned anti-fascist illustrator during World War II; and a mysterious streetball legend in Jerusalem’s Old City.
I’ve written profiles for the New York Times on the oldest living former Yankee and Dodger; on the forgotten coach of the 1940s and 50s’ Minneapolis Lakers dynasty; on the only No. 1 pick in N.B.A. history to never play in the league; and on Martin Luther King Addo, the former winner of the Mr. Ghana Bodybuilding Championship, who trains elderly ladies in Lower Manhattan.
I also write for children’s TV shows on PBS Kids. These have included the Emmy-nominated series Nature Cat starring Kate McKinnon; Cyberchase starring Christopher Lloyd and Gilbert Gottfried; and the puppet series Donkey Hodie. I recently wrote a series for the Wondery podcast “Sports Wars.” I can be reached at louielazar@gmail.com.
