Frank Deford has been a highly-acclaimed sportswriter, author and commentator for more than 50 years.

He is most well-known for his long association with Sports Illustrated, which started in 1962, and continues to this day as a senior contributing writer for the magazine.

Deford has also authored 17 books on a variety of topics. His latest book, Over Time: My Life as a Sportswriter, is a wide-ranging memoir packed with stories about sports heroes and characters that he has covered over the years.

He has been elected to the Hall of Fame of the National Association of Sportscasters and Sportswriters and was voted by his peers as U.S. Sportswriter of The Year six times while at SI.

For several years, Deford has been a commentator on National Public Radio's Morning Edition and recently taped his 1,500th segment. On television, he is a senior correspondent on the HBO show, Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel.

He will read from Over Time: My Life as a Sportswriter, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday at the Seattle Central Library.

Deford talked about his new book, his remarkable writing career and more in a live chat June 14 on seattletimes.com.