NEW YORK – The New York Yankees honored late Associated Press photojournalist Kathy Willens with a moment of silence before Friday's game against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Willens died Tuesday at 74 of ovarian cancer, diagnosed shortly after her 2021 retirement.
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Willens was among the AP’s first female staff photographers and retired after nearly 45 years. Her more than 90,000 images included presidents, Pope John Paul II, protests, war, sports triumphs and human tragedy.
Willens was so highly regarded that the Yankees honored her with a pregame ceremony when she retired. Yankees manager Aaron Boone gave Willens a framed print of her picture of David Cone after he completed his perfect game in 1999 that was signed by the pitcher.
Willens started her professional career as a freelancer for suburban Detroit newspapers in 1974. She soon landed a job at The Miami News as a photo lab technician, then as a staff photographer, racking up front-page and other prominent pictures and was hired by the AP in 1976.
Working from Miami, Willens covered the 1980 Mariel boatlift, when nearly 125,000 Cubans came to the U.S. in six months, and the aftermath of deadly rioting that occurred the same year after the acquittal of four police officers charged with fatally beating a Black insurance executive.
In her career, Willens covered six Olympics, 11 Super Bowls along with numerous NBA finals, World Series and other championships.
Willens was transferred to AP’s New York headquarters in 1993. Shortly after she was transferred to Somalia in the midst of its civil war, but returned to New York to cover news and sports.
Willens earned numerous journalism awards, including an Associated Press Managing Editors Award for Reportorial Excellence and multiple wins in the Baseball Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame photo competitions.
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