Art Wilson, longtime horse-racing columnist for the Southern California News Group papers, has died at age 71, his family said Sunday.
Wilson battled multiple myeloma, kidney disease and congestive heart failure in the past decade, but his death early Sunday morning came unexpectedly after a medical episode Saturday, said his younger brother, SCNG handicapper Eddie Wilson.
Eddie said he left Art’s room at Providence St. Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley on Saturday night expecting to see him Sunday.
“When I left, he was watching the (Santa Anita race) replays on his cell phone,” Eddie said.
Born in Massachusetts, Art Wilson grew up in Azusa and Glendora and attended Citrus College before studying journalism at Cal Poly Pomona.
Wilson joined the San Gabriel Valley Tribune in the 1970s and worked for that newspaper as a writer and editor, continuing after the Tribune joined the newsgroup that became SCNG.
His Friday racing columns, coverage of big races at Santa Anita, Del Mar and Los Alamitos and daily selections online were popular with fans and competitors.
Art Wilson, who lived in Victorville, is survived by Eddie Wilson and his sister Deborah Wills.
Services are pending.
This story will be updated.