Legendary The Atlanta Journal-Constitution sports columnist Furman Bisher wrote his first column as Atlanta Constitution sports editor April 15, 1950.
He covered the Masters, Kentucky Derby and the Georgia-Georgia Tech football game more than 50 times each. Most of the Super Bowls, too.
Bisher spent 59 years with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution before retiring in 2009. He wrote his final column on the same typewriter he used when he started in 1950.
Bisher died in March 18, 2012. Today, Nov. 4, would have been his 100th birthday.
On Monday, Bisher will be inducted into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame in a ceremony at the University of Georgia.
Credit: Mike Luckovich
Credit: Mike Luckovich
Bisher wrote a "Thankful" column annually since 1955 for the Thanksgiving holiday. He continued to write into his retirement.
In his final "Thankful" column, published Nov. 24, 2011, Bisher wrote:
Well, we're now into our third season of what is comically referred to as "retirement" — and I can tell you this: There's nothing retiring about it.
The phone still has to be answered. The garbage has to be taken out. Norman (that's the cat) has to be fed — then let out — then let back in. The bird feeder has to be refilled. The fish pond has to be cleaned out. The newspapers have to be taken to the recycling bin. The deer — danged little wretches — have to be chased out of the flower garden. And I could go on and on, but you've heard enough. Oh, I forgot, the leaves have to be raked — and Lord knows, do we have leaves!
So, there you are. Doesn't sound like a guy who has a lot to be thankful for, right? It's not the usual sort of thing you might find included among the joys of living, but with tongue firmly planted in cheek, let me see if I can't assure you that there are some things out there to be thankful for ...
Find more of Furman Bisher's work on AJC.com.
