William Glackin - Transitions - arts critic for The Sacramento Bee and contributer to Dance Magazine dies at 85 - Obituary

Dance Magazine, May, 2003 by Ruth Rosenberg

William Glackin, an arts critic for The Sacramento Bee for fifty-four years and a contributor to DANCE MAGAZINE, died at work on December 20, 2002, at age 85.

Glackin joined The Sacramento Bee in 1948. He wrote more than 7,500 dance, music, and theater reviews for the newspaper. He was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 1980 for his body of work. Bruce Dancis, his editor at The Bee since 1990, noted that Glackin "had extremely ecumenical taste when it came to dance. He took great pleasure in covering touring companies such as American Ballet Theatre, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and The Parsons Dance Company, but was very supportive of Sacramento area dance companies of all shapes and sizes."

Born in Sacramento, Glackin received a BA, with honors, in physics from St. Mary's College. He was drafted into the army in 1943, where he developed a passion for journalism, writing for his base's newspaper under mystery writer Dashiell Hammett, who served as editor.

He is survived by his son, Brendan, his daughter, Nancy Curtin, and four grandchildren. The William Glackin Scholarship Fund has been established through the California State University Sacramento Foundation.