11/21/24
May 21, 2010
Sports Illustrated Writer Ron Fimrite Dies: Ron Fimrite, a Sports Illustrated writer of 34 years described as a "bon vivant" and "stylish sportswriter," has died at age 79. Fimrite specialized in "profiling athletic greats who had dropped off the radar of modern day readers," writes Doug Moe. Moe cites his pieces on Hobey Baker (1991), Walter Hagen (1989) and Max Baer (1978), all of which can be read in the SI vault. As a child hounded by his dad to get autographs -- in spite of being deathly afraid of famous athletes -- Fimrite once had Baer sit in his lap as a gag at the Oakland Oaks ballpark. "I sat there mortified beneath the old fighter, scarlet features obscured by Baer's massive torso," he wrote. "As I remember, he wrote something like 'Good luck to a swell kid -- Max Baer.' ... my first and last autograph."
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posted by irunfromclones at 09:10 PM on May 21, 2010
Just read the piece on Hobey...excellent. As an Iowan, I was brought up in the Cult of Nile Kinnick, who's certainly worthy of admiration. But this article gives me a context for understanding why so many still revere him--he was a kind of "salt-of-the-earth Hobey," an expression of a type.