Editor’s note: I had posted this late Friday night on my Facebook page, but considering the response I received from it, I thought it would be OK to have it appear on this website.

Just found out that George Kochman passed today. It’s a very sad day for the Staten Island road racing community, and also for those of us who knew him both as a teacher at Monsignor Farrell HS and reporter at the Staten Island Advance.

GK, a graduate of Augustinian Academy and later Georgetown University, also coached at Wagner College. But he truly rose to prominence as the highly successful track coach at Farrell. I remember during my freshman year at Farrell in 1978-79, there was a Frosh Olympics. I did the shot put, and I guess I did well enough (with no prior experience) that George came up to me and encouraged me to join the track & field team. Worried about grades and assimilating into my new surroundings, I thought that taking on a sport might set me back academically, so I didn’t follow up on it. It’s one of the few regrets I have in 59 years. As for teaching, I had George for Economics, a senior elective, and I busted his chops for years for making us buy a $40 textbook that he never used; he had us cut articles from the Wall Street Journal instead. Still, it was a fun class. (I don’t know how much I learned judging from my bank account; and for choosing two professions not known for high salaries.)

Flash forward to November of 1989 and I’m now a sports reporter at the Advance. And who do I meet in the department but GK, who was now writing about track instead of coaching it. It took me a solid year before I could call him “George” and not “Mr. Kochman.”

While George’s copy wasn’t the most colorful or flowery, it certainly was detailed — if you didn’t know much about running, GK’s stories were like instructional guides that helped even novices like myself understand. And he was a dedicated reporter, always tracking down people and getting the quotes that readers wanted.

Working with George at the Advance for about a quarter of a century was a true delight. I got to know him, and his biting dry sense of humor. Yes, George could trash talk with the best of them. Another one of his traits was loyalty — he stuck with the baseball Giants after their move from the Polo Grounds in Manhattan to San Francisco. And I was happy for him that his patience with that club paid off in the form of three World Series titles (2010, 2012, 2014).

I would see him now and then the past several years after our Advance days were up, usually at some road race, and it was always fun being in his presence.

Now that the race is over and the finish line has been crossed, George has earned a well deserved rest.

Thank you, Mr. Kochman.