Bill Tangen is a former Port Jervis, New York high school athlete who served the Air Force in southeast Asia following graduation in 1965. He returned to his hometown and became a reporter at the local newspaper. In 1977 he was named New York State Sportswriter of the Year for his coverage of scholastic wrestling. Bill had become sports editor at the Union-Gazette in 1973 and in 1976, personally interviewed heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali at the Concord Hotel, prior to his title defense against Ken Norton at Yankee Stadium. Bill attended the American Press Institute sports editors seminar (Reston, Virginia) in 1976 and interviewed New York Knicks basketball legend Willis Reed in 1978. Bill married the former Christine Goble in September, 1970. The couple has two grown daughters and seven grandchildren. Bill's first book, Choices...Memoirs of a Sportswriter, includes his successful struggle to overcome alcohol addiction.