Furman Bisher: A career in photos

Sports

Furman Bisher: A career in photos

Furman Bisher, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Hall of Fame columnist for 59 years.

Furman Bisher wrote about sports far and wide, as well as locally, in more than half a century for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. On Sunday, March 18, 2012, Bisher, 93, died of a massive heart attack, a longtime friend and editor told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Bisher covered the Masters, Kentucky Derby and Georgia-Georgia Tech football more than 50 times each, as well as most Super Bowls. He wrote more than 15,000 newspaper pieces and an estimated 1,500 freelance articles for magazines and won numerous writing and community service awards.

Bisher, born in Denton, N.C. in 1918, was a football manager at the University of North Carolina. During his time there, in the late 1930s, he played in a scrimmage during spring practice.

Bisher served in the U.S. Navy during World War II between 1941 and 1945, not long after he embarked on a journalism career in his native North Carolina.

On April 15, 1950, Bisher wrote his first column for The Atlanta Constitution in the office of legendary editor Ralph McGill. Bisher kept the typewriter for the rest of his career.

In 1949, Bisher landed one of the biggest coups of his career on assignment for Sport Magazine when he interviewed "Shoeless Joe" Jackson. It was one of the few times the former outfielder, one of eight Chicago "Black Sox" players thrown out of baseball for throwing the 1919 World Series, talked about the episode to the media.

Bisher was involved in bringing major league sports to the city. He was a charter member of the Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium Authority during a time when it wasn't regarded a conflict for a journalist to serve in such a capacity.

Bisher with longtime Atlanta sportswriter and editor Ed Danforth. Former Journal sportswriter Lee Walburn used to retype Bisher's columns to practice his style, "just to feel his words flow through my fingers." Like many reporters under Bisher's charge, Walburn admitted at times his boss instilled fear in him.

In 1997, Longstreet Press published a collection of columns by Bisher and Celestine Sibley, the late Constitution features columnist and author.

Bisher with fellow sportswriters Jesse Outlar and Edwin Pope. Outlar followed Bisher as Constitution sports editor after Bisher took the same job with the Journal in the 1950s, when the papers were fierce rivals. "I'd look at [the Constitution] each day and see how we could beat their ass," Bisher said in 2006. The merger of the Journal and Constitution in 1982 "was a blow to my gizzard."

Bisher shaking hands with Paddy Brassil at the Stone of Accord at the Old Head Golf Links in Ireland. Bisher's passion for golf led him to form friendships with the likes of Bing Crosby, whom he once sent a Georgia Tech sports jacket.

In 1963, Bisher was embroiled in controversy after a Saturday Evening Post article alleged that Georgia's Wally Butts and Bear Bryant of Alabama conspired to fix a college football game. Bisher conducted some interviews for the story but ultimately they were not included in the final publication.

The U.S. Supreme Court eventually ruled in favor of Butts, who sued for libel. Bryant settled out of court with the magazine. "Ugliest part of my career," Bisher said many years later. "Some people in Alabama still think I wrote it."

Bisher autographs a copy of one of his books, "With A Southern Exposure," for Georgia Tech's Tonto Coleman. "I learned to write from Furman Bisher," Walburn said. "If he had decided to become a novelist, he'd have been the John Steinbeck of the South."

As a passionate golfer as well as golf journalist, Bisher pulled out his clubs for many celebrity pro-am events, including this one at the East Lake Golf Club.

Bisher relaxing under one of his favorite spots, the big oak tree near the clubhouse at the Augusta National Golf Club. "He's an honorable man with an engaging wit and down-to-earth way that just makes you feel glad to know him," golfing great Jack Nicklaus said. "There never will be another Furman Bisher."

Sportswriting veterans Dan Jenkins, Edwin Pope, Furman Bisher and Ron Green at the press center at Augusta National during the 1999 Masters.

Bisher's name even found its way on the back of a car in Moscow.

In 1970, Bisher collects Easter Seals donations from Necia Smith, Ted Sparks, Carolette Stalling and Melanie Few. The father of three sons, Bisher said "the highlight of my career . . . was raising my three boys." When one of his sons, Roger, died at the age of 44, Bisher said it was "the toughest thing in my life."

In 1980, Bisher greets British Prime Minister Edward Heath, who took in the Georgia-Ole Miss football game in Athens during a visit to the U.S.

Bisher straps on a helmet and dons racing gear to drive a pace car during a 1982 NASCAR event at Atlanta International Raceway.

At a 2004 reunion with former Journal sports writers: Seated (L-R) Bill Robinson, John Logue, Furman Bisher, Gene Asher. Standing (L-R) Jim Minter, Greg Favre, Tom Willow, Terry Kay, Linda Bisher (Furman's wife), Norm Arey, Lee Walburn, David Cleghorn, Gerry Chatham. "He could frustrate the hell out of you," Favre said of Bisher. "When you had a chance to reflect on what he was telling you, you knew he was correct."

The Saturday after Sept. 11, 2001, Bisher wrote a column about the absence of sports from an empty Sanford Stadium. Most sporting events around the country were cancelled that weekend.

In 2006, Bisher was one of six inductees in the Atlanta Sports Hall of Fame. When asked the meaning of "selah," a word taken from the Psalms that he used often to end columns, Bisher was typically forthright: "I have no idea. Your guess is as good as mine."

Bisher is greeted by Rome Braves manager Randy Ingle in 2006. Among the baseball luminaries interviewed by Bisher during his career was Ty Cobb. Bisher also penned a biography of homerun king Henry Aaron.

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Furman Bisher wrote about sports far and wide, as well as locally, in more than half a century for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. On Sunday, March 18, 2012, Bisher, 93, died of a massive heart attack, a longtime friend and editor told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

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