Jul 22, 2014 1 min read

PITTSBURGH (AP) – Phil Axelrod, a longtime sports writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, died.

The newspaper reported Axelrod died Monday at his home, eight months after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

Axelrod covered nearly all sports at all levels – professional, major- and small-college, and high school – for 37 years at the newspaper. He was a home-grown talent, who graduated from Taylor Allderdice High School and Duquesne University, both in Pittsburgh.

Assistant sports editor Terry Shields said Axelrod treated all assignments equally saying, “He would treat the Division III teams the same way he would cover the Pirates or Steelers, and people really appreciated that.”

Axelrod also wrote for publications including Sport, Sporting News and Football Digest.

He’s survived by his wife, Sharon Eberson, and son Josh Axelrod of Falls Church, Va.