- After his death, as requested in his will, he was cremated and his ashes scattered over Manhattan by his son from a plane piloted by his old friend, legendary flier Eddie Rickenbacker.
- Shortly after his death from throat cancer, his old friend and former assistant Walter Winchell established the Damon Runyon Cancer Fund in his memory. As the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Institute, the foundation continues to fund research into finding a cure for cancer.
- Recipient of the J.G. Taylor Spink Award (presented to a writer for meritorious contributions to baseball writing) in 1963.
- Orignial last name "Runyan" was changed to "Runyon" by a careless copy editor at the paper where Damon worked; Runyon decided to keep the new spelling.
- Author of the short stories "Guys and Dolls," "Little Miss Marker," "The Old Doll's House," "The Big Mitten," "The Lemon Drop Kid," and "Lady for a Day." With the exception of "Guys and Dolls" (which was made as a film for the first time in 1955, nine years after his death), all of these stories were adapted as feature films during his lifetime, and remade or re-adapted after his death.
- Suffered from throat cancer (which left him speechless) and died broke.
- Reporter, sports columnist, and popular short story writer.
- Inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, 2002.
- Resided above Billy LaHiff's Tavern at 156-58 West 48th Street in New York City.
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