Al and I worked together in the Sun-Sentinel Sports Department for a little over two years, but I still have vivid memories of the many times the four of us - Vicky, Al, Vince Verdi and myself - would get together at Al and Vicky's place in the Victoria Park section of Fort Lauderdale, smoke a little something and have big laughs over whatever the topic of the day was: Craig Barnes, Don Shula, the Bills and/or Patriots, getting by on minimal (not minimum, thankfully) wages, and so on. At the heart of it was conversation and a shared love of the newspaper business. We all came to be great friends and I treasure the memories.

Al gave me my first break in journalism at Golf World magazine. I came at the profession backward, having written two books first. Al assigned a freelance feature with no idea if I could spell my name. And 30 years later, I'm still at it. Al introduced me to NASCAR, and I went on to write Jeff Gordon's autobiography and two racing novels. When FOXSports.com was launched, Al brought me in as an SEC football and Braves baseball writer, along with golf. More than half of my career is due to him. I owe him everything. And I will miss him every day.

I am so sorry for your loss.  While I did not know Al, but I know he meant a lot to you.  May his memory be a blessing. 

Al will be greatly missed. He was a wonderful husband and father. He was also a gifted writer- we looked forward to his Christmas letters- funny and insightful! Sending love, Janet and Brian

What I loved most about Al was his laugh! I loved his sense of humor and little Pumpkin on his shoulder!

Al was a co-worker at Golf Channel, but we quickly became buddies, playing golf together on our days off, or staying up til 2AM on our days on to report on some West Coast LPGA event, while chatting about life, family, the Patriots, movies ... you name it.

Al was my de facto mentor on the Golf Channel editing desk. The old school newspaper man who would write you a 1,000 word email explaining grammar or punctuation mistakes ensuring that you’d never make that mistake again, and more importantly, the reason why. He made everyone around him better at their job, because he was so effortlessly good at his. He was sharp and quick-witted. He was the one who taught me the valuable lesson of ordering the steak AND the lobster if work was paying for it. And when that college kid went viral for yelling “Don’t taze me bro” at the police officer, he quickly adopted it as a moniker. @donttaysmebro is still his Twitter handle. It pairs nicely with his bio on LinkedIn, “Journalism Dinosaur.” 

After he left Golf Channel we said let’s keep in touch and it wasn’t an empty gesture, because nothing with Al was an empty gesture. We basically became pen pals, exchanging emails every few months or so. I miss those emails, and I'll miss Tays. My sincere condolences to Vicki and the rest of Al's family.

So sorry to learn this. Al was a rock — to any organization  or co-worker or friend. I knew him as both friend and consummate editor who could take any story — from a brief to a multi-part, in-depth series — and work magic with it. His singular skills made the Miami Herald sports department better. Just watching him work made all those around him better. But I don’t want to forget to mention this: Al was one of the finest people I’ve ever met. Deep sympathies to the family and friends. 

Al was a wonderful golf partner and made any round feel like one of the best hang times you could have that week. The conversation didn't have to be special, but not a round went by when I didn't come away feeling I learned a bit more about how Al thought about journalism, sports, and life in general. Al could read people so well, and I trusted his insight. We shared ideas and often times read back pieces of content that would go into our respective stories. He was a much better editor than me, and I had to work hard to meet his standard of brevity and wit. If things didn't sound well to him, I got it straight from him, and felt better because of it.  I miss him dearly and send my heartfelt wishes for lasting peace and best memories to his family.    

Al and Bob after a round of golf

Al, Vicki, Vince Verde and I all used to pal around during the halcyon days of our 20s at the Sun-Sentinel and Al and I formed a friendship that never ended. I was thrilled when he joined the staff at The Palm Beach Post and we were able to rekindle what our friendship. In more recent years we would get on the phone on a regular basis and it was so hard to end the conversations as we told stories about all the characters we met, the assignments we had had and the lives we had lived. There was never a doubt Vicki was right for him; she was the Gal Friday in the office who always seemed to have to stop by the Sports Desk to trade a jab or two with the guy it became clear she would marry. I miss our conversations and Al's sense of humor dearly; he was so adept at coming up with the perfect line in the spur of the moment, one of the many great things about him. All the best to Vicki and the family.

Al was a joy to work with, to play golf with, or to have dinner with, and I'm so grateful I got to know him as both a colleague and friend, doing all of those things. I called him "Gandalf the Gray," in recognition of his wizardry with copy when we were together at Golf Channel. He called me Frodo. He loved his family and friends, but he loved journalism, too. Words were like his children. He couldn't abide seeing them mistreated, but he was gentle in his correction . . . Your life was better if Al was in it, as a journalist, and as a human being. 

Hard to find words that will appropriately chronicle Al Tays but genuine comes to mind. Al was all Boston. Straightforward, blunt, honest with an amazing wit and sense of humor. I truly enjoyed our times together covering NASCAR and our conversations after we both left the beat behind. We could talk for hours about everything. Al was never short of opinions and was almost always correct. What a shock to see this notice this morning. I had just thought of him and reminded myself to reach out.

Will miss you dearly my friend. 

Al was the best editor and friend you could ever want. He brought me into the field of journalism when I was author but not yet a reporter. Later, he did it again, bringing me with him to FOXSports.com when it first began. We played countless rounds of golf together and spoke often. He was a friend to the end.