Thomas Lake was a curious paperboy in a small town when he chose the topic for his first-ever news article, an elderly subscriber who wrote historical novels. Today, Lake covers the world’s most well known athletes for the world’s leading sport magazine, Sports Illustrated.
On Wednesday, October 5th, Gordon College will welcome back Gordon alum, Thomas Lake 01, to the AJ Gordon Memorial Chapel. After earning his bachelor’s degree in communication arts, Lake's love of sports and passion for writing drives him to write professionally. While a senior at Gordon, Lake interned for The Salem News. He now holds the title of “Senior Writer” for the most influential sports publication in the world.
Now 31, Lake still thrives on his satisfying this curious nature, and writing about the latest news in the world of sports. He lives in Decatur, Georgia with his wife, Sarah (also a Gordon grad of ‘01) and their 16-month old daughter, Juniper.
Lake is quick to admit that the life of a “senior writer” is not always glamorous. Writing for such a prestigious media company, he is held to high standards to produce top-notch articles. “It’s terrifying,” he said “but a lot of fun.”
Following his interests, Lake has developed a common theme of self-sacrifice among his articles over the years. Stories of coaches and athletes surrendering their own needs for the sake of their team have characterized his pieces time and again.
“It’s not something I planned for,” he said about his trademark theme. “I think it was probably not an accident that these (self-sacrificial stories) were the types of stories that I would look for. That theme was ingrained in me growing up. The son of a pastor, home-schooled, and one of six kids, I was basically reading all the time and getting immersed in stories like this.”
Lake wrote his first article on the theme of self-sacrifice in 2005 for the Florida Times Union. The story was about a racial conflict involving a young black boy who risked his life to save a smart-mouthed white boy from the beatings of a group of black teens.
“It was a very hard story to report,” he said.
Although reporting is not always easy, Lake knows that this is the career path for him. He is thankful for his years at Gordon and attributes a lot of his knowledge and growth to the teaching and writing of the former journalism professor at Gordon, Steve Crowe, who worked at the college from 1998 to 2004.
“I thought I knew how to write,” said Lake. “But he showed me how much farther I had to go. He introduced narrative journalism to me. He told me, ‘It’s like writing news but you actually tell a story from beginning to middle to end.’ I got the chills and I thought, ‘I’ve got to try that sometime.’”
Crowe, now 59, works as the news editor for The Hellenic Voice in Lexington, MA. Crowe spoke highly of Lake as a student. He was impressed with him immediately. “Of all the people I’ve seen at Gordon,” Crowe said, “he’s the best journalist or news writer.”
Crowe wasn’t afraid to push Lake to reach his full potential.
“The first time he turned something in I gave him a B, although I would have given the average Gordon student an A for that paper,” he said. “I knew he could do better.”
Lake reflects on Crowe’s teaching with deep gratitude.
“There was always an element of faith in everything,” he said. “I’m sure that I look at each story differently then other writers in acknowledging how real that is in peoples’ lives. But still, the facts are the facts. You’ve got to dig out the truth. At that point it’s all in how you present it and what you’re willing to believe about it.”
Gordon professors, other contacts with major writers, and investigations of curious scenarios that lead to great stories, Lake acknowledges that getting his career off the ground took hard work and faith in God. "It took a bunch of pretty surprising circumstances,” he said, “that made me feel very blessed.”
Lake’s favorite writer, Gary Smith, has been writing for Sports Illustrated since 1983. Smith, one of the most decorated magazine writers in America, has earned four National Magazine Awards. Lake wrote a fan letter to Smith and “Amazingly,” said Lake, “Two or three days later, I get an e-mail back.”
Lake and a few of his writer friends visited Smith’s home in South Carolina. Lake’s great talent and vigor for sports news impressed Smith who ended up calling his boss with the words, “You’ve got to look at this kid.”
Although Sports Illustrated was in no need of more writers, they couldn’t deny that Lake had talent. When they first published a story of his, Lake’s dreams began to become his reality.
Lake knows that although he cannot incorporate the Gospel directly in his Sports Illustrated articles, he can stand for right morals and Christian values.
“It’s about getting the bigger ideas in,” said Lake, “and letting people interpret them however they want to. It all sort of connects to a way of living that a lot of us should be striving toward. So hopefully people will read the stories and find the truth.”
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