He Will Be Missed, Never Duplicated

In high school, during study hall, I became determined to become a sportswriter when I grew up as a result of reading--and giggling at--syndicated columns by Jim Murray in the New Orleans Times-Picayune. I never did grow up, but did become a sportswriter and the most cherished moments of my professional life have been those few occasions when some misguided, but kindly reader told me I wrote a bit like that Murray guy out in L.A.

In truth, my best has been a poor imitation of the Murray touch and I found it ironic that when I missed the first deadline from a long-running Florida State football game one Saturday evening a few years back, my space was plugged for the early edition with a Jim Murray column off the wires. I couldn’t help thinking how short-changed the late-edition readers were that next morning after Murray was replaced by Guest--a little like sending in Roseanne to sing for Streisand.

We all embrace heroes but I had the rare good fortune to become friends with one of mine. In the process, I would learn that Jim Murray was not only a wondrously gifted writer, but a class and caring person. My wife and I often enjoyed the dinner company of Jim and Linda, most recently during the U.S. Open in San Francisco. That evening, he once again impressed all with his ego-less grace and his kindness to a young sportswriter from the Carolinas in our group.

Jim Murray will be long missed, but never duplicated.