Ralph “Bud” Leavitt started his journalistic career in 1935 as sports editor of the Bangor Evening Commercial. He went to work for the Bangor Daily News in 1952 as a sports writer. Since that time, he has been a sport~ editor, outdoor editor and, in 1978, was renamed sports editor. At the present, he is the executive editor of sports.

During his distinguished career, Bud has received much recognition and many awards for his work as a sportswriter-author. In 1969 and 1978, he was named Maine’s No. 1 Journalist by U.S. Writers and Broadcasters Association, He was elected to the U.S. Hall of Fishing Game and in 1978, awarded Trout Unlimited’s Silver Trout Award. In 1980, he was awarded the Distinguished Citizen Award by Katahdin Council, Boy Scouts of America. In 1981, he was chosen to receive the Miramichi Salmon Association Outstanding Journalistic Award, and in 1982 he was awarded a $2,000 gift by the Safari Club International “as an expression of gratitude for his lifetime contribution to the cause of conservation,” In 1978 and 1979, he was twice honored by his peers, by being chosen by a national jury for producing the country’s number one outdoor program, Woods ‘n Waters.

Bud has been a prominent member of Outdoor Writers Association 01 America; Associated Press Sports Editors Association; National Rifle Association; Miramichi Salmon Association; U.S. Bass Anglers Sportsman’s Society.

He is as “at home” with national personalities as he is with Maine natives.

Several prominent people wrote reviews of the Leavitt book, including Red Smith, Pulitzer-prize-winning New York Times columnist, who describes Bud as one of Maine’s greatest natural resources, and old friend Ted Williams who says “I have known this particular Knight of the Keyboard for the best part of 30 years. In that time, I have tried to teach him the finer nuances of fishing and hunting.”

For Bud’s strong support given toward a state-wide system of wildlife management areas, the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife of Maim will dedicate an area in his honor. A 6,008-acre tract of wildlife area - situated in the towns of Dover-Foxcroft, Atkinson, Charleston, and Garland will be known as the “Bud Leavitt Wildlife Management Area.”

Bud and his wife, the former Barbara Harding, live in Hampden and they have two daughters, Elizabeth Polkingham and Liza Jean Tozier.