Frank Keating was born to a farming family in
Herefordshire, and raised in
Gloucestershire. He attended Roman Catholic
boarding schools at
Belmont Abbey and at
Douai School, before joining the
Stroud News as a local reporter in 1956. He later worked on various local newspapers in Hereford,
Guildford,
Bristol,
Southern Rhodesia,
Gloucester and
Slough, before working briefly as a
sub-editor for
The Guardian in 1963. In 1964, he joined
Rediffusion TV as outside broadcasts editor, and in 1968 moved to
Thames Television, as special features editor. In 1970 Keating returned to
The Guardian as a sub-editor. By the late 1970s he had gained his own regular column of commentary, interviews and reminiscences, particularly covering
cricket,
football,
rugby union and
horse racing. His columns were admired for their "fresh, inventive phraseology", and his "remarkable gift for phrase and observation" and "jaunty, ornate prose". As principal sports columnist, he continued writing the column until late 2012. Keating wrote several books, including
Another Bloody Day in Paradise (1981), about the
English cricket team in the West Indies in 1980–81 tour;
Long Days, Late Nights, a miscellany of previously published articles in 1984;
High, Wide and Handsome, about cricketer
Ian Botham; and biographies of
Geoffrey Boycott and
Graham Gooch. His autobiography,
Half-Time Whistle, published in 1992, was shortlisted for the Sports Book of the Year award. In addition to
The Guardian, he wrote for other publications including
Punch,
The Spectator, and the
New Statesman, and undertook freelance television work, including a series of sports interviews,
Maestro, for the
BBC between 1981 and 1985. He was named Sports Journalist of the Year in the 1988
British Press Awards. ==Death==