NEW YORKER of the WEEK
Gerald Sprayregen
Photographer, author and philanthropist
BY TODD SHAPIRO
With the magic of his camera
lens, Gerald Sprayregen
has personally witnessed
many once-in-a-lifetime moments.
Through his philanthropic endeavors,
outspoken activism and having
penned over 20 books during his illustrious
career, he has shared many
of his experiences and memories with
millions of people around the world.
Notably, Sprayregen is among the
foremost sports photographers.
“There are many great sports
photographers around the globe,”
Sprayregen says. “I have been very often
fortunate to have been in the right
spot at the right time.”
The United States Golf Association
commission honored Sprayregen by
asking him to supply 40 images from
his book Power, Passion, Honor and
Glory for an exhibition that traveled
the United States and Canada for four
years. Thirty images from his book, The
Soul of Michael Jordan and Company
(published by Random House) were selected
by the Basketball Hall of Fame
to comprise a one-man show, which
ran for 18 months and was the longest
running exhibition in the history of the
Basketball Hall of Fame. These distinctions
classify Sprayregen as one of the
greatest professional sports photographers
to have ever lived.
Since 2007, the Sprayregen Family
Foundation (SFF) proudly supports the
production of impact fi lms with a social
conscience. Among these groundbreaking
fi lms is Thank You for Your
Service, a documentary directed by
Tom Donahue, that exposes the epidemic
of PTSD and suicide as it exists
within the community of veterans returning
from war. Rather than merely
function on the fi nancial end of the
production, Sprayregen initiated the
fi lm getting made and his sheer force in
all aspects of the endeavor made these
war stories possible. When Sprayregen
takes time away from sports photography,
he spends his energy on helping
others.
In 2019, he founded the Gerald
Sprayregen Charitable Foundation Inc.
— a charity that supports educational
programming, provides fi nancial support
to college students and encourages
student participation in democracy.
This foundation provided a grant to
enact an emergency award program to
support students who have experienced
a personal emergency that has become
a fi nancial burden standing in the way
of their educational pursuits. Sprayregen
spearheaded efforts in facilitating
student retention toward program
completion by removing problematic fi -
nancial obstacles. “Through the efforts
of my foundations, we have derived immense
satisfaction and pride when we
bring a smile to the face of any boy or
girl who has almost forgotten how to
smile,” asserts Sprayregen.
His entrepreneurial side has led him
to having published over 20 books.
This Renaissance man has released
award-winning books of sports photography,
but in addition to that, his
works include poetic works as well as
children’s books. Sprayregen is a major
advocate for youth literacy with an
emphasis on providing comfort and
support for children and their families
while in the hospital setting through
children’s literature. He started the annual
Search for Creativity poetry and
photography competition which is offered
to three public high schools each
year. He is very involved in giving back
at his second home in Florida through
the Kids Sanctuary Campus, a village
of homes in West Palm Beach providing
housing for at-risk, abused and
neglected children in the foster care
system.
Another interesting project SFF is involved
with is America the Great — a
compilation of satiric cartoons from 52
highly acclaimed artists throughout the
world who provide their impressions
of former President Donald Trump
through charged illustrations and text.
Of the 52 artists, 22 of them have won
Pulitzer Prizes for their cartoon work.
America the Great begins with a preface
tracing the history of the genre
since 1776. All proceeds from the sale
of this book are directed toward the
initiatives of Sprayregen’s foundation,
which support children’s literacy, the
arts and social advocacy.
In addition to the world-wide fame
for his photography of sports legends
including Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods
and Jack Nicklaus, Sprayregen’s most
recent photography project has taken
him closer to home with a magnifi cent
coffee table photography book titled A
Beach for All Seasons: The Beauty of
the Hamptons. This book is a massive
320-page coffee table book that exquisitely
captures the beauty of the Hamptons
during the spring, summer, winter
and fall seasons. This fascinating
content visually documents the time
he spent, during the initial COVID-19
outbreak, traversing the highways and
byways of his beloved East End. Onehundred
percent of the proceeds from
the sale of the book are earmarked
for food banks and pantries, 75% of
which is directed toward hyper-local
food banks that serve the East End.
Sprayregen remains active with the initiatives
of his foundation and continues
to write and create photographs while
dividing his time between New York
and South Florida.
He is also responsible for creating
and implementing a special fund to assist
the families of fi rst responders who
lost their lives while working at Montefi
ore Hospital in New York City during
the COVID-19 crisis. Sprayregen’s
twin brother, Dr. Seymour Sprayregen,
is the chief of radiology at Montefi ore
Hospital.
Sprayregan continues his philanthropic
efforts which he declares to be
among the most rewarding experiences
of his life and have become a very central
and fulfi lling focus to himself and
his family. He continues to be the guiding
force behind the foundation that
bears his name. His passions for fi lmmaking,
photography and poetry continue
to maintain his creative energy
and strength to this day.
Commenting on one of his favorite
projects, Sprayregen remarks, “I’ve
written, directed and produced a fi lm
called Economics 101, and being the
ham that I am, I wrote in a small acting
role for myself.”
At an age past 80, when most people
tend to slow down, Sprayregen is just
getting started with new ventures such
as the building of nine new residential
homes throughout the Hamptons. This
project was initiated in 2019.
Todd Shapiro is an award-winning
publicist and associate publisher of
Dan’s Papers.
10 December 16, 2021 Schneps Media