If you had a question about Penn State sports history, you could always turn to Lou Prato.
Whether it was one of his several books, his columns in various publications or talking to the man himself for his encyclopedic knowledge of Nittany Lion athletics, Lou always had the answer, and he delighted in telling the story.
That’s one of the fond sentiments that was widely shared among community members and Penn State beat reporters this week after learning that Prato died on Tuesday in State College. The highly regarded journalist, author and Penn State historian who was instrumental in the founding of the university’s All-Sports Museum was 87.
“Lou Prato was the authority on all things Penn State Athletics history,” Penn State Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Pat Kraft said in a statement. “From the moment I met Lou, I could tell how much sharing the stories of Penn State meant to him and how important it was to him to keep those stories alive. His passion for this University was only matched by his love for his family. There will never be another Lou Prato and we will miss seeing him around our Penn State Athletics events. Our thoughts are with [his wife] Carole and Lou’s children during this difficult time.”
A passionate but clear-eyed Penn State supporter, Prato got his start in journalism as a reporter and editor at the Daily Collegian before graduating from the university in 1959.
His lengthy journalism career included time as an Associated Press reporter in Pennsylvania and broadcast news director in Detroit and Dayton, among other stops. He was a contributor to Sport magazine during Dick Schaap’s tenure as editor, and later a regular voice at Blue-White Illustrated. He also had an academic career as director of Northwestern University’s journalism program in Washington, D.C., and after returning to State College, as an instructor and guest lecturer for communications courses at Penn State.
“Lou loved being a teacher at Northwestern and Penn State. But, at his core, he was a grizzled TV news boss, who wore the times he got fired as a journalistic badge of courage,” said Mike Poorman, a longtime Penn State football beat writer and a columnist for StateCollege.com. “Lou was so proud of his work covering Penn State football — the books, the TV work, his relationships with scores of past players, coaches and administrators.”
Poorman, the director of alumni relations and senior lecturer in journalism for Penn State’s Bellisario College of Communications, first met Prato in the late 1990s when when the latter and his wife moved in down the street in Stormstown. Poorman’s children, young at the time, took to Prato “as a kind grandfather figure,” he said.
“For me, over the next three decades Lou was a great friend, a wonderful cheerleader, a discerning editor, a trusted mentor and confidante, a very popular classroom guest, an effective provocateur when debating sports and politics, and a literal walking encyclopedia of Penn State football,” Poorman said. “No one knew more.”
With his deep interest in and knowledge of Penn State sports history, Prato became the foremost curator of the Nittany Lion athletics story. His books have included the “Penn State Football Encyclopedia,” an indispensable, meticulously researched chronicle of the program’s history, as well as “100 Things Penn State Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die,” “Game Changers: The Greatest Plays in Penn State Football History,” and “We Are Penn State: The Remarkable Journey of the 2012 Nittany Lions.”
His curiosity and quest to tell the stories of the past led him to separate myths from facts — and delve into the complicated spaces in between — such as in his explorations of the origins of Penn State’s “We Are” cheer, a far more complex tale than it may seem.
“I never thought I’d be what I’m doing today, but that’s what happens when you’re a young kid. You never know,” Prato told Bellisario College Student Media reporter Kaleb Boyer in 2024. “But in many ways I’m still a sportswriter, because I write books. So what’s on my epitaph? I’m a sportswriter.”
He also played a critical role in the development of the Penn State All-Sports Museum and served as its inaugural director after it opened in 2002.
“The Penn State All-Sports Museum was his fourth child, and perhaps his greatest legacy,” Poorman said. “With the support of (former Penn State athletic director) Tim Curley, Lou searched high and low, in dusty Rec Hall closets and forgotten trophy cases to create the museum from the ground up. He literally worked himself to exhaustion in making that treasure a reality.”
Prato’s support for Penn State went even further. His volunteer work included serving as an original member of the Bellisario College of Communications Alumni Society Board, working on the All-Sports Museum Board, speaking to alumni groups around the country and mentoring numerous Penn State students and alumni.
He was recognized by the Bellisario College Alumni Society in 2016 with the Alumni Achievement Award for significant contributions to the college and university. And his three decades of service to the Radio and Television Digital News Association were honored in 2001 when the organization established the Lou and Carole Prato Sports Reporting Scholarship, which is awarded to students who bring Prato’s journalism values to their coverage of sports.
For generations of Penn State reporters, meanwhile, Prato was a valued resource and friend.
“One of Lou’s greatest gifts was his ability to connect with Penn State beat writers from three, four, five generations,” Poorman said. “He had time for all of them, and knew them all. Just as important, he knew their words. He was prodigious as both a writer and a reader. A good part of his great writing was based on his tenacious and painstaking research, personalized by his ear for interviewing and his heart for Penn State.”
Some of Poorman’s fondest memories of Prato are intertwined with another legendary Penn State sports figure, the late Nittany Lion football radio voice Fran Fisher. For several years, the three men hosted monthly lunches with an invited guest, someone connected to the university and usually in athletics.
“We treated the guest, who sang for their supper,” Poorman said. “We hosted literally dozens of those lunches, and the by-play between Lou and Fran was a treasure of my life. They were great friends, very different. But they were connected by their kindness, their love of Penn State, their sharp teasing and banter, and the fact that Lou would always help himself to Fran’s cole slaw.
“They were and will remain my heroes. Lou dubbed them ‘Frick and Frack.’ To me, they are the true Lions of Penn State.”
In addition to his wife, Prato is survived by a son, Scott, and daughters Vicki Rearick and Lori Keating.
Arrangements will be announced at a later date.
