Frank Deford is a novelist, screenwriter, Emmy and Peabody-award winner, a member of the Hall of Fame of American sportwriters, and was elected six times by his peers as America's greatest sportswriter.

In this moving column on NPR, which invites gay sports stars to "come out", he also calls on the U.S. Olympic Committee to intervene so that the great Olympic athlete Peter Vidmar can, in peace, serve his country and his fellow athletes, instead of facing exclusion for having donated to Prop 8:

"In the meantime, vis-a-vis tolerance, let us encourage the U.S. Olympic Committee to plead with Vidmar to rejoin the American team –– an honorable gentleman, whom we can all respect, whether or not we agree with one opinion of his."