Woody Anderson graduated from Berlin High in 1965. While at Berlin he was co-captain of the cross country and track teams and among the top runners in school history. He set the mile record of 4:49.7 and the two-mile record of 10:14, both of which stood for many years. He was among the first in school history to qualify for the State Meet. After graduation, he attended UConn where he ran cross country and joined the school newspaper becoming its sports editor.

After graduating from UConn Woody joined the Hartford Courant sports department in January of 1970 where he spent 36 years as a sports writer, covering thousands of local events, from high school to college, and was known for his writing style as well as his flair. He won more than 40 state, New England, and national awards during his career. In 1989 he won a nomination for a Pulitzer Award for coauthoring a series on steroid use by high school athletes. In 2003 he received the CIAC Merit Award for his many years of distinguished service to high school sports.

In 2008 he was awarded the Connecticut Sports Writers Alliance Art McGinley Award and in 2011 was inducted into the Connecticut High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He was among the first to compile weekly statewide coaches’ polls of top high school teams. He also compiled a ranking of the top 25 boys’ basketball players including detailed information on each.

During his career, he received awards from the New England Press Executive News Association, the New England Basketball Coaches Association, the Associated Press Sports Editors, the United Press International, The Sporting News, the University of Hartford, and the CT Special Olympics. He also covered college sports, including UConn football and men’s basketball.

As a member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Wethersfield he served on committees, served meals at homeless shelters, collected and delivered clothing and other needed items to the shelters, and has helped build a home for Habitat for Humanity. Woody and his wife Sharon reside in Southington.