REMEMBERING FURMAN BISHER
Legendary journalist will be missed by all
It was with sadness that I read of the passing of Furman Bisher. I, along with thousands of other AJC readers, looked forward to his columns — especially his annual Thanksgiving one. I had the opportunity to meet Furman when I visited the AJC in 2007. He took time to talk with me and show me around. He had just returned from spring training and was getting ready to go to the Masters. His office walls were covered with pictures of him taken with sports celebrities. It could have been a collage of sports in Georgia over a 60-year period. I told him that I used to take part in his weekly “I Beat Bisher” and had even won a couple of T-shirts and bumper stickers. He pointed out a picture behind his desk, taken when he visited Russia. It showed a man standing next to a car and on the back bumper was an “I Beat Bisher” sticker. Furman Bisher was known everywhere, and he will be missed.
JERRY SCHWARTZ, ALPHARETTA
Writer best at his craft; death marks end of era
Furman Bisher wrote in such a way as to make readers feel as if they had been at the game or match or race. Every writer has the same supply of words at his or her disposal — but Furman Bisher could arrange them like no one else.
For more than 50 years, he covered sports. He became an icon. He helped Atlanta grow into a major-league city. Mr. Bisher was a throwback to a better age — when newspapers arrived each day, and when people picked up theirs from the front steps or driveway, they hadn’t already read every word online. They hadn’t been tweeted the news or seen it on Facebook. In those days, writers were wordsmiths who put their hearts and souls into their work. We, the readers, were loyal to those whose columns we read on a regular basis. We came to feel as if we knew the writers and they were part of our daily lives.
I had the fortune to meet Furman Bisher for the first time about 15 years ago. He was warm, friendly and gracious, and I couldn’t believe I was having a conversation with one of my childhood heroes. Every time I have run into him since, he has been just as friendly as the first. Furman Bisher’s death marks the end of an era. We will never see his likes again. Selah.
DARRELL HUCKABY, CONYERS
Vivid coverage essential to events
Not only could Furman Bisher see a story, his canvas of newsprint simply burst with the colors he could paint. No coverage of any major sports event was complete without his take. Whether it be the Kentucky Derby, the Masters or Georgia vs. Georgia Tech, his was the final word in the South and much of the country. Yet it was his musings on a nonsporting event — Thanksgiving — which moved us the most.
Metal spikes are no longer worn, Furman, but they echo still, to those of us whose hearts you won, as we slowly follow you into the gloaming. We are thankful for you.
LAWSON THOMPSON, MARIETTA
