Rebel Express advisor Lori Lyons has been selected to receive the 2022 Distinguished Service Award in Sports Journalism from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association and be will inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in July of 2023. along with a 12-person Class of 2023.

The LSWA’s Distinguished Service Award in Sports Journalism is a prestigious honor awarded to sports media personnel from Louisiana and voted on by members of the association. The DSA was first presented in 1982 with only 71 sports media personnel enshrined. Nominees are drawn primarily, but not exclusively, from the ranks of the LSWA, based on professional accomplishment in sports journalism and impact on local, state, and national audiences. Lyons was selected from a 29-person pool of nominees for the state’s top sports journalism honor.

“I am humbled and amazed to be selected for this distinguished honor,” Lyons said. “To be considered one of the best at what I used to do is just extraordinary, and to be included with some of the greatest athletes, coaches and journalists the state has ever produced is mind-boggling.”

Lyons spent 26 years at The Times-Picayune, starting as a sports agate clerk to winning LSWA Prep Writer of the Year honors twice and becoming the second woman to serve as the LSWA’s president. She then spent one year as a sports editor for the L’Observateur and more than a dozen years as a freelancer for various publications and websites. Lyons dabbled in broadcasting and press box announcing and currently is an occasional correspondent for various publications.

Lyons has published Adopting in America: The Diary of a Mom in Waiting, an autobiography about her journey from infertility to adoption. Lyons is also a avid blogger as she shares her adventures her life at: www.thelyonsdin.com.

“A writer just has to write sometimes,” Lyons said. “When the inspiration hits, I’m happy to have an outlet to express myself. I still get asked to cover games and other events on occasion, but those days are mostly behind me. Now I’m focused on teaching skills to the next generation.”

After retiring from sports writing, Lyons joined the staff at Riverside Academy. She teaches middle school creative writing, high school multimedia, web design, journalism, and is the advisor for the Rebel Express.