Register sports writing icon Buck Turnbull dies

John "Buck" Turnbull, an icon in Iowa journalism, died at his Des Moines home Friday night. He was 88.

Turnbull, who suffered from spinocerebellar ataxia, worked at The Des Moines Register for 41 years before retiring in 1993. A memorial will be held in August, according to a family spokesperson who confirmed his death.

Turnbull worked in various jobs in The Register’s sports department, most notably as a reporter.

He covered football, basketball, golf and college sports, primarily. He was a mentor to reporters just entering the business.

“He loved being around coaches and athletes,” longtime sports reporter and columnist Rick Brown said. “He loved telling a story.

“Whenever he got a scoop, he'd get that little smirk on his face. You knew he had something big, but he wouldn’t tell you what it was.

“You knew what he had when you saw the newspaper.”

Former Des Moines Register Editor Michael Gartner visited Turnbull frequently after his retirement.

“I had coffee with him every day for 15 years, then every week when the coffee group went to weekly," Gartner said Saturday. “When I started working at The Register — when I was 15 — he was on the copy desk. From there, he became one of the most respected reporters the newspaper had."