Walter Adams Bingham Jr., known to all as Bing, died on May 13, 2020, in Duxbury from chronic lymphocytic leukemia. He was born on Aug. 27, 1930, in Orange Memorial Hospital, Orange, N.J., to Walter and Janet (McMillen) Bingham.
Bing graduated from the Hill School in Pottstown, Pa., in 1948. He attended Yale for one semester, and then moved to Los Angeles to live with his mother, sister, and stepfather, author Robert Nathan. He took courses at UCLA and worked as a copy boy at the Los Angeles Examiner.
During the Korean War he joined the U.S. Air Force for a four-year term of service. He was stationed at Sampson Air Force base in Geneva, N.Y., as a medic.
Thanks to a friend, Bing heard “they’re hiring” at Sports Illustrated. In his own words, “My life didn’t really begin until Oct. 20, 1955, when I walked in the door at S.I.” He became a writer and editor for the fledgling magazine, remaining there until 1988, and continued as a freelance contributor until 2000.
Bing was a lifelong runner and completed his first Boston Marathon in 1965. His all-time best came in the New York Marathon at age 50. His last race was at age 86 — the 5K race in his beloved Truro — in 2016.
In 2002, Bill Higgins, sports editor of the Cape Cod Times, invited Bing to introduce readers to the Masters golf tournament, which he had covered for more than 20 years at Sports Illustrated. He did, and then continued writing regular sports columns for the paper for 18 years, with the last one just a few weeks ago.
Bing raised his family in Port Washington, N.Y., on Long Island, and in 1991 moved to Truro. He resided at the Village at Duxbury since 2016.
Bing was the subject of a profile by Ryan Fitzgerald of the Independent, published just four weeks ago. In it, he said, “My heart is really in Truro. I’d like to be thought of as a Truro boy.”
He is survived by his wife, Betty (Bredin), sister Frances Kerr of Tampa, Fla., son Eric of Truro, and daughters Liza of Cambridge and Amy of El Cerrito, Calif. His son David died in 1990 at age 32. Other survivors include Catherine Bingham, Ishak Kang, and grandchildren Caroline and Connor Bingham and D.J. and Zander Kang.
A memorial service will be held in Truro at a date to be determined. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in his memory to the Truro Conservation Trust, where he served as a board member in the 1990s.
