Born: May 27, 1960 in Columbus, Ohio
Buena High School 1978
UC Santa Barbara
1982 – BA (Business Economics major; minor in Coaching)
Woody Woodburn joined The Ventura County Star- then The Star-Free Press – as a sports writer and columnist in September 1987 after beginning his journalistic career at The Desert Trail in Twentynine Palms (1982-83) followed by stints at The Daily News in Paso Robles (1983-84) and The Santa Maria Times (1985-87). His sophomore year at UC Santa Barbara, Woody joined the sports staff at The Daily Nexus after an injury sidelined him from the Gauchos’ tennis team.
National recognition for Woody’s writing includes E.W. Scripps Newspapers “Columnist of the Year”; Copley News Service’s “Columnist of the Year”; and the James S. Copley “Ring of Truth” award. Woody was also inducted into the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation Journalists Hall of Fame in 2003, an especially meaningful occasion because Murray was his writing idol who kindly befriended Woody as a rookie sports writer nearly three decades ago.
Woody briefly left The Star in 2000 to take his keyboard to The Daily Breeze in Torrance where he was a sports columnist for three years until, late at night after covering the Super Bowl in San Diego, he was rear-ended at a red light by a drunk driver going 65 mph. Permanent nerve damage in his neck, left arm and hand forced Woody to leave the deadline grind in press boxes so he turned his focus to freelance writing; rejoined The Star as a general interest columnist; and in 2013 authored an acclaimed memoir titled WOODEN & ME: Life Lessons from My Two-Decade Friendship with the Legendary Coach and Humanitarian to Help “Make Each Day Your Masterpiece.”
Previously, Woody wrote two other books – The Pirate Collection: A Decade of Dominance (1996) about the Ventura College men’s basketball program under VC Sports Hall of Fame inductee Coach Phil Mathews; and Raising Your Child To Be A Champion In Athletics, Ads and Academics (2002) which he co-authored with tennis legend Wayne Bryan, father of last year’s VC Sports Hall of Fame inductees Mike and Bob Bryan. Woody’s writing has also appeared in The Best American Sports Writing anthology, The Spotting News, and more than a dozen Chicken Soup For The Soul editions including Baseball Fan’s Soul, Runner’s Soul, and Golfer’s Soul.
Further journalistic awards for Woody include First Place and Second Place for Column Writing by the Associated Press News Executive Council; Column Writing honors twice by the Associated Press News Executive Council; Column Writing honors twice by the Associated Press Sports Editors and once for Feature Writing; First Place Column Writing/Commentary by the California Newspaper Publishers Association; Best of the West First Place for Special Topic Column Writing; Southern California Sports Journalism Awards First Place for Columns; The California-Nevada Associated Press Second Place for Column Writing; and First Place for Column Writing three years in a row by the Ventura County Press Club.
Woodburn’s community involvement includes his annual “Woody’s Holiday Ball Drive” that in the past 12 years has collected more than $80,000 worth of new sports balls for underprivileged youth in Ventura and the South Bay.
Woody has run more than a dozen marathons, including a PR of 2 hours, 58 minutes, and is also a “Streaker” who has run a minimum of 3.1 miles every single day since July 7, 2003 – that being the first day his neurosurgeon cleared him to run again following neck surgery – and has averaged 9.2 miles per run during that nearly 12-year span. Woody currently ranks No. 141 overall on the United States Running Streak Association’s active list.
Woody and his wife, Lisa, have been married 32 years and have two adult children. Dallas earned her BA at USC and an MFA in Fiction Writing at Purdue before becoming a John Steinbeck Fellow at San Jose State University; she is currently a novelist living in the Bay Area. Their son Greg was a four-year walk-on and senior captain on the USC Track Team, and Rhodes Scholar Finalist, before recently earning his MBA at USC’s Marshall School of Business. Greg now works for the Clinton Initiative in New York.