Tom Durkin Honored by Saratoga Central Catholic

Tom Durkin didn’t want to write an autobiography. 

Despite calling many iconic races across his 43 year career, the former track announcer and broadcaster didn’t think his life was interesting enough to write a book. The impetus came from his students at Saratoga Central Catholic High School. 

“I certainly didn’t want to write a book about me, because I’m not my favorite subject,” Durkin said. “I’m that person that gets up in the morning and the first thing I do is I look at the mirror and go, ‘oh God, not another day with you again,’ but these guys talked me into writing a book, and here we are.” 

It was those students who surprised Durkin in the high school’s gym on June 3 to celebrate the release of his autobiography “A Life’s Calling: The Voice Behind the World’s Greatest Horse Races,” which was published in April. 

Durkin has taught public speaking at the high school for the last three years. His students each gave a short speech thanking Durkin for teaching them over the last year. Each of his students received a copy of the book which Durkin signed after the assembly. 

Durkin was caught completely by surprise and joked to reporters afterwords that it was a good thing that he had a good cardiologist. Upon entering the gym and seeing the assembled students, Durkin was handed a mic and gave a speech about the importance of education and how he got to where he is. 

“When I was just a kid, I would go out to the racetrack in Chicago, and I’d stand at the finish line, and I wouldn’t look at the horses,” Durkin said. “I turned around and looked up at that guy way up in the sky that was calling the races, and I wanted to be that guy.” 

He later wrote a letter to the announcer who told him to get his education and then he would be able to pursue his dream. 

While the retired announcer only started teaching recently, the experience has made him wish he started right when he first retired. He said that teaching has been very gratifying and he’s been able to watch the students grow. 

“I can see their progress from September here to June, and the trepidation that they had getting up in front of a small group of people, and it’s certainly a much more confident than they were,” Durkin said. “I hope that spills over into the rest of their lives.” 

As for what surprised him the most about teaching high school students, Durkin said that he was surprised at how well rounded the students are. He said that their writing skills are terrific and that he’s learned as much from them as they’ve learned from him. 

In addition to his praise from his students, Durkin also received praise from Saratoga Central Catholic Principal Christopher Signor. 

“Tom is a great, great natural educator, brings an amazing energy to the school,” Signor said. “Kids love him.”