Bob York was one of the first people I ever met at the Greenfield Recorder.

My first foray in the business came in 2004. A freshman at UMass, I finagled my way into 14 Hope St. when the newspaper was in need of high school football stringers. I figured it’d be good experience, and would put a little change in my pocket (emphasis on little).

York was the copy editor at the Recorder when I arrived, though I quickly learned that he was a sports guy. He was an elder statesman of the company, arriving in 1974 as the paper’s new sports editor and sticking around for the next three decades. He held a plethora of positions at the company, including wire editor, feature writer and columnist. Those 30 years eventually turned into just shy of 40, when he retired in 2013.

York died on Wednesday at the age of 77.

My early days with the paper coincided with an era when Recorder staffers were very much lifers — Richie Davis, Tim Blagg, Dolly Gagnon, George Forcier, Irmarie Jones, Diane Broncaccio, Gary Sanderson, Justin Abelson, et al.

York was there about as long as any of them. Forty years in the newspaper business can be draining, but he was always accommodating, and took an interest in me as a young scribe eager to make an impact.

“Ever been to a Deerfield game?” he asked very early in my freelancing days.

York was writing a weekly column that ran Fridays about the prep school sports scene in Franklin County in 2004, and asked me to tag along for a Deerfield Academy football game he was covering. Learning the history of the program, meeting legendary coach Jim Smith (who had just taken the job at Mohawk Trail Regional School), it was an early education for someone with little knowledge of Franklin County history.

But York was just the person to help. I looked back in the Recorder archives this week, trying to find the first thing he ever penned for the paper. It came in a column on Oct. 10, 1974, aptly titled “A Newcomer’s First Month.” Let me tell you, that initial column could easily have been written in 2024 and not much would be different. He talked about some difficulties locating schools and fields as a newcomer to the area (using the old Kentucky Fried Chicken as a landmark), and also how hard it could be to correctly spell some last names (a never-ending plight).

Though perhaps my favorite part came toward the end of the column, when he bemoaned phoning in the halftime score of a Greenfield-Chicopee Comp football game (yes, that was a thing that used to happen) because some “irate” fans thought he took too long in the telephone booth (1974, remember) and started shouting vulgarities at him. Welcome to Franklin County, kid.

“It’s been an interesting month and with the help of a few road maps, some rosters and a private phone, things could even become more interesting,” he concluded.

Four more decades living, working and telling stories here... York’s interesting was certainly prophetic. Rest in peace to a great guy.

Jeff Lajoie is the sports editor of the Recorder. He can be reached at jlajoie@recorder.com