Darrell L. Christian, a former managing editor and sports editor of The Associated Press known for a demanding demeanor and insistence on excellence during more than four decades with the news agency, died Monday. He was 75.
Christian died of Parkinson’s disease at Elegant Senior Living in Encino, California, according to his wife, Lissa Morrow Christian. He had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease around 2015, his wife said.
“Darrell was the finest story editor I ever saw, with an unerring instinct for the lead and shape of copy and zero tolerance for anything but the best,” said Mike Silverman, the AP’s managing editor from 2000 to 2007 and senior managing editor through 2009. ”I had the great good fortune to be his deputy for several years when he was managing editor and much of what I later brought to the job I owed to him.”
A no-nonsense editor known for directness and rigor, Christian modernized AP’s sports coverage during seven years in charge, emphasizing breaking news and in-depth reporting on issues as the sports business, academics and high school safety standards. That coverage earned him a promotion to managing editor under William E. Ahearn, then the executive editor.