Furman Bisher: We lost a legend, I lost a friend
Furman Bisher: One of few worthy of "legend" being attached to his name. (Jason Getz/AJC)
Every few weeks, the same thoughts would roll through my head:
I just had a conversation with the man who sat on the front porch sipping ice tea with Ty Cobb.
I just exchanged emails with the man who scored the only interview with “Shoeless” Joe Jackson.
The man who watched Cy Young pitch, the man who saw Joe Louis box, the man who covered the very first post-bootlegging NASCAR race — one of the few people who legitimately deserved to have the word “legend” attached to his name — just dialed my cell phone to say, “Hello, young man. I like what you wrote . . .”
I’m sad today, not just because I lost a friend and former colleague in Furman Bisher but because this is like a door to history slamming shut for all of us.
In a few weeks, I’ll be going to Augusta for the Masters and I won’t be able to turn to my right and exchange thoughts with the man who played golf with Bobby Jones.
Bisher wrote his first column for the Atlanta Constitution in 1950. I was born nine years later. When I came to Atlanta in 1989, Bisher was 71. People told me he was going to retire soon. Soon turned out to be 20 years later.
When he finally left this newspaper in 2009, I asked Furman what he was going to do.
“I’m going to get up in the morning and think of something to write,” he said.
Then he laughed at the irony of that statement.
Furman Bisher sits down to write his first column for the Atlanta Constitution in 1950.
We talked about about sports. We talked about life. We talked about the changing media and the state of the newspaper industry. Eventually, I got around to asking him again about Ty Cobb and Joe Jackson, because I could never hear him tell stories enough times.
“People look at me like I’m in a museum or something,” he said. “It’s like I’m one of those stone things, talking to you. A talking statue. They can’t quite understand it. They look at me and say, ‘You really knew him?’ It really didn’t strike me as that unusual at the time. I had known Cobb before. I’d seen him blow his stack at dinner. I had never seen Shoeless Joe before. When we spoke, he said, ‘This will be the first time I tell this story and the last.’ We got $250 apiece for that story from Sport Magazine. That was good money. It was 1949.”
Before news traveled with the speed of a Tweet, Furman Bisher painted pictures for us. He wrote with a voice. When he was revved up about a topic, and that was more often than not, the words jumped off the page. It was as if he was sitting next to you, talking into your ear.
If he liked you, you knew it.
If he didn’t like you, you knew it.
Nobody ever had to ask, “I wonder what Furman thinks?”
Stan Kasten, the former longtime Atlanta sports executive, certainly experienced both sides of Bisher. It’s not well-known, but Kasten loves having different business cards made up to describe his ventures. (True story: When he stepped down as president of the Braves, Hawks and Thrashers, Kasten said, “Hey Jeff, here’s my new card,” and he handed me a blank card.)
Bisher inspired one of Kasten’s cards.
“He wrote that I was ‘a not altogether unworthy servant,’” Kasten said with a chuckle. “I thought that was kind of his way of complimenting somebody. I took that with great pride. You can bet I had cards made up that said, ‘Not Altogether Unworthy Servant.’”
Furman sent me an email in November, a couple of days after the LSU-Alabama game, which I had covered.
“Jeff: Les Miles played his hand like a smart gambler. Waited till Saban dealt him the right hand and nailed him. Probably one of the most popular victories in college football since Rutgers beat Princeton. Er, uh, or did Princeton beat Rutgers? You do good work—FB”
We spoke a few times after that. We exchanged a few emails during the last round of baseball Hall of Fame voting. I told him I was checking the box by Dale Murphy’s name again.
“Bravo and good for you. We need all the recruits we can get. I’ve been voting for him for years, but to no avail. Not much chance ever I’m afraid, but I ain’t quitting.–FB”
I told him I was looking forward to seeing him at the Masters. I had heard he was having some back issues and asked him if would be well enough to attend the tournament . I just looked back this morning and realized he never responded to that email.
It was well-known Furman ended columns with the Hebrew word, “Selah.” It’s punctuation that appears at the end of verses in Psalms and has been interpreted different ways: Forever. Pause. Reflect.
I will forever pause and reflect on a man I was fortunate to know and could call a friend. And to Furman, if you’re reading this: If people viewed you as some talking statue in a museum, it’s a term of endearment.
Selah.
By Jeff Schultz
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258 comments Add your comment
dawg4u
March 19th, 2012
6:46 pm
Thanks for a fine article on an icon in Atlanta sports, Furman Bisher. I can remember as a kid in the mid sixties my brother and I racing for the mail box to grab the AJC and read Furman’s column on Sunday morning. The fact that he worked until age 90 is remarkable. I really enjoyed his Master’s columns and also the UGA and GT sports articles. He was great at reporting any sporting event and was great on his Thanksgiving day columns on the things he was thankful for. Priceless. The most touching article that Furman ever wrote IMO is the one he wrote when he lost his mother who also lived to a ripe old age. That brought tears to my eye. RIP Mr. Bisher and I salute you and to echo Jeff’s closing – SELAH!
RIP, Furman Bisher « Dixie Babble
March 19th, 2012
6:57 pm
[...] native who first made his name in 1949, when he managed to get the first (and, it turned out, last) interview with ‘Shoeless’ Joe Jackson since the 1919 Black Sox scandal. He went after Bear Bryant in print several times, most notably [...]
barney strickland
March 19th, 2012
7:04 pm
I remember I first moved to the ATL in 1979 when I was 12 from Maine and immediately started reading Bisher. I BEAT BISHER!! …… Anyone remember that contest the AJC had whereas if you picked better than Furman… they sent you a congratulatory bumper sticker…?? I had a couple of them !! Wow. I thought he would write forever…..
jj
March 19th, 2012
7:32 pm
His columns used to irritate the heck out of me. If that doesn’t show that Mr. Bisher was a good columnist, nothing does.
Steve W.
March 19th, 2012
7:54 pm
Jeff, glad you got to know Furman. he was a patient (and friend) of my
Father’s. spent many a Sunday at Furman’s house after church. playing ball with his kids. not realizing till years later what a great writer and man he was. missed his column’s as they diminished as the years passed. life lesson: stay in touch with those you respect and love. they may not be here tomorrow.
5150 UOAD
March 19th, 2012
7:57 pm
nice story about Mr. Bisher.
http://www.ramblinwreck.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/031912aab.html
Donna Briggs
March 19th, 2012
7:59 pm
Such wonderful words for a wonderful uncle! He was one of a kind and loved by many. One of my favorite things in life, from childhood into today, was to pour over the many scrapbooks filled with Uncle Furman’s columns. Hours upon hours of enjoyment reading his writings. As he inscribed my copy of “Thankful”, Godspeed to my “wandering uncle”. Thank you Jeff.
Sid
March 19th, 2012
8:01 pm
Your best I ever read. Goodbye Furman, God Speed.
James
March 19th, 2012
8:02 pm
I have the 1977 book by Bisher titled The Massters. It is a wonderful history of the masters and I will always treasure it.
Ed
March 19th, 2012
8:10 pm
I had no idea that Mr. Bisher was that old. What a life, we should all be so lucky. RIP
Mike Kane
March 19th, 2012
8:13 pm
Kudos to Furman Bisher on a great life lived and for being an inspiration to people who read and write about sports.
And kudos to you for a wonderful column. You knocked it out of the park!
Respect
March 19th, 2012
8:20 pm
Jeff, a classy farewell to a classy southern gentleman. I grew up in Minnesota in the 1960’s and 1970’s and the senior writer for the Minneapolis Star and Tribune was Sid Hartman. He was a great writer whose claim to fame was after the Super Bowl that Joe Namath predicted the upset victory Namath wouldn’t talk to anyone unless they followed him into the shower. Hartman was the only one who did and is still writing today. Then I got to Atlanta and found out about Furman Bisher. As great as Hartman was he was/is no Bisher. I have been fortunate to read the writings of these two great journalists for many years. God bless you Furman. As many others said, I loved all of your work especially your Thanksgiving columns. What he wrote about losing his son was truly touching.
DetroitBraves
March 19th, 2012
8:24 pm
Furman Bisher was a magnificent writer and wonderful sports historian. Though I don’t believe he embraced sabermetrics in the way I do (as Jeff is probably aware) I always got a kick out of how we would reach similar conclusions coming from such different directions and eras. For instance, I believe Mr. Bisher and I feel very similarly about these things they call closers in baseball. A wonderful writer he has sorely been missed in retirement. An engaging, captivating historian (the guy interviewed Shoeless Joe Jackson for God’s sake) he is missed sorely today. Rest in peace Mr. Bisher. You are definitely one of the best.
Martha Hairston Jost
March 19th, 2012
8:55 pm
Thanks for the story Jeff! Mr. Bisher’s passing seems like the end of an era.
Joel Short
March 19th, 2012
8:57 pm
How ironic that Bisher wrote a well-known feature on Shoeless Joe Jackson, a man who paid dearly for his misdeeds.
I guess the payoff for Bisher’s misdeeds was more subtle: He to cover forty more years of GT football futility (at team presently non-competing in America’s worst major football conference).
In great contrast, ‘Bama football has dominated for decades, with no signs of slowing down.
God truly works in mysterious ways!
Buzz
March 19th, 2012
9:11 pm
I learned to read by reading his columns aloud to my parents at the dinner table 50 years ago.He will be missed. Joel take your hatred somewhere else.
5150 UOAD
March 19th, 2012
9:29 pm
Joel NEVER told a LIE in his life I guess.
THE BAMA NATION TOO
March 19th, 2012
9:30 pm
@ JOEL SHORT……I WAS YAPPED AT BY A UNAWARE MORON @ 12:50 P.M. TODAY FOR EXPRESSING MY DISPLEASURE FOR F.BISHER!! I APPRECIATE YOU FAIR & ACCURATE REPORTING OF THE BASIC REASONS FOR THE TRUE DISTAIN BY THE BAMA NATION!!! I TOO DO NOT WISH TO BE DISRESPECTFUL TO A DEAD MAN HOWEVER,HE WAS ON THE CUTTING EDGE & DID NOT KNOW IT. YOU SEE F.BISHER WAS ONE OF THE FIRST REPORTERS TO START A TREND THAT CONTINUES TO THIS DAY…………….REPORT WHAT YOU THINK TO BE TRUTH (TRUTH BE DAMN) NOT WHAT IS FACT & WHEN EXPOSED TO BE A LIAR………….DENY,DENY,DENY & NEVER APOLOGIZE………………..TO THE GRAVE!!!! THANK YOU MR. SHORT……YOU SIR ARE SPOT ON!!!
5150 UOAD
March 19th, 2012
9:35 pm
hahaha Bear the mean Drunk never lied and was a total ethical person. Damn you Bama Fans are a great comedy troupe.
Ken Stallings
March 19th, 2012
9:56 pm
I’m sure the man would have cherished the option of hanging on long enough to experience another Masters. But, he shall now receive the praise and eulogies that those fine men in Augusta can reserve for the truly special men who touched their sport.
My sympathies, Jeff, it is tough to lose a mentor and a friend. There is solace in knowing your mentor was loved by so many in the world. I never knew him like you knew him and I consider myself poorer for that. But, the few times I exchanged words with him were cherished moments and I enjoyed it at the time and will value it for the rest of my own life.
Furman Bisher belongs to the ages now — a man who’s legacy will stand long after his mortality.
Felix 17
March 19th, 2012
9:57 pm
Selah.
Felix 17
March 19th, 2012
10:04 pm
So I’m in the seventh grade and I learn the meaning of “sic” -the Latin abbreviation- from reading Furman Bisher’s column. I then use “sic” in an essay for school and the teacher marks it wrong. She didn’t know what it meant and probably didn’t read the great Furman Bisher. His writing was so good. That’s what I remember. Obviously he was always the best writer on a staff of good writers. And he always answered my e-mail. Oh I loved to read Furman Bisher. There was no filler. Thank you, Furman Bisher.
Felix 17
March 19th, 2012
10:07 pm
No filler. No vacuous,obvious padding. He could write and he could think. Original and had a voice. Oh, Ioved Furman Bisher.
Hey Bama
March 19th, 2012
10:08 pm
Trolls, you are speaking ill of the dead. Bisher did not write the SEP article. He did expose a new type of win at all cost ideology at Bama. I’d be scared of meeting the Bear when he had already treated the Graning/Holt incident as normal football. Holt should have faced criminal charges. You people know he stacked all of UA’s sports teams with football players in case of injuries to the football team. Whatever happened to the film of that game? There are still frames, but shouldn’t there be film? For those unaware please research Chick Graning and Darwin Holt. Don’t go to a Bama site because Holt is considered a hero. Look at the still frames and decide for yourself. It’s gruesome and attempted murder. Notice Graning laying on the field with massive face injuries and Holt celebrating with his teammates. Lastly, Holt visited Graning while he recovered. Holt told Graning that “if I meant to kill you I would have”. That’s the truth. Enjoy your legacy Bama fans.
5150 UOAD
March 19th, 2012
10:20 pm
To sum up, I’ve been waiting a LONG time to give this short paragraph rant — but the sorry SOB wouldn’t die. I’m very happy to finally give my little two cents of balance to his story (whatever few will read it).
Looks like someone was afraid to face an old man.
Hey Bama
March 19th, 2012
10:23 pm
Sorry, I forgot to mention that Mr. Bisher was spot on in his judgement. You guys are right in that he should have had an armed guard before going to a Bama practice and those armed guards needed to be from Georgia. Thanks for all you did Furman.
Ball Ground Dawg
March 19th, 2012
10:28 pm
Alot of good memories from Furman Bisher in the Atlanta Journal & Constitution. I especially enjoyed listening to Furman Bisher and Larry Munson on the UGA pre-game shows. The last one I remember was Larry’s last UGA-Ga. Tech game in 2007. Furman Bisher and Larry Munson were really a joy to listen to as they talked about the game that day and many games of the past. I wonder if WSB Radio could pull out a few of those for us to listen to one of these days?
Joel Short
March 19th, 2012
10:35 pm
onfire1113
Best friend Ga. Tech ever had at the AJC. We will miss you.
==========
Hey, good to see some truth peeking through from the Tech Faithful.
Joel Short
March 19th, 2012
10:42 pm
“Jeff: Les Miles played his hand like a smart gambler. Waited till Saban dealt him the right hand and nailed him. Probably one of the most popular victories in college football since Rutgers beat Princeton. Er, uh, or did Princeton beat Rutgers? You do good work—FB”
=======
How telling. “Probably one of the most popular victories in college football…”
That says it all about the AJC’s attitude the premier program in college football history.
Sam
March 19th, 2012
10:48 pm
Selah
“alright, get the picture…”
” and a fan from…comes away with the foul ball”
All sayings from my youth and early adult life that I will miss greatly.
Chuck Turlington
March 19th, 2012
11:00 pm
Jeff, you nailed it with
“If he liked you, you knew it.
If he didn’t like you, you knew it.”
Furman never forgot a name.
chuck t
On Par: Bisher, the Loss of a Legend
March 19th, 2012
11:04 pm
[...] Jeff Schultz wrote so poignantly in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where he was Bisher’s colleague for more than 20 years, he was a walking sports museum, having [...]
David E.
March 19th, 2012
11:15 pm
I’m sorry if you Alabama fans can’t get over something that happened 49 years ago. Oh well. The fact of the matter is that Furman Bisher was one of the best writers of his generation. From the time I was a kid, I would read his column before anything else in the paper. Whether you agreed with him or not, his writing was always superb. It’s a sad day. Selah.
Joel Short
March 19th, 2012
11:24 pm
David, I would love to “get over it”; however, FB never even one hint of an apology or mea culpa, not even when his actions contributed to bringing down on of the formerly great magazines of the age, the Saturday Evening Post. History and truth are on my side on this issue, and they both have thumbs point down for FB.
5150 UOAD
March 19th, 2012
11:26 pm
Joel Short show us a link where you have Proof Mr. Bisher caused the failure of the SEP.
Joel Short
March 19th, 2012
11:30 pm
5150 UOAD: Hey, you’re a big boy, and obviously have internet access. Ever hear of ‘Google’?
Wilbo
March 19th, 2012
11:31 pm
Schultz, you simpleton jerk, you couldn’t carry Furman Bisher’s briefcase.
5150 UOAD
March 19th, 2012
11:32 pm
Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Furman Bisher might have been the first writer I regularly read. You’d have a hard time finding a Southern sports writer not paying tribute to his work this morning, even if only for its sheer volume, after he passed away at age 93 over the weekend. He wrote for 70 years, covering everything from college football to international sports to the Masters — always the Masters — and left a warm impression on just about everybody he met, including me.
Still, it’s important to remember on the occasion of his passing why Alabama fans aren’t quite ready to praise him without condition.
In 1962, the Saturday Evening Post ran a story by Frank Graham, Jr. about Tide coach Bear Bryant and Georgia coach Wally Butts conspiring to fix a game in Alabama’s favor. Bisher’s name was attached to the project. Bryant and Butts sued, and the Post was slammed by judges all the way to the Supreme Court.
Bisher didn’t write the story, but he did contribute investigative work in addition to being named in a suit by Bryant over an article alleging Alabama players were taught to master “brutality.”
Bryant claimed a major emotional toll from the story and its aftermath, and not just from the piece itself. At one point his house was torn apart by someone who was clearly looking for evidence of cheating, not stuff to steal. (No, Furman Bisher probably never broke into Bear Bryant’s house.)
Bisher was no fan of Bryant’s, especially since an Alabama player named Darwin Holt smashed the face of Georgia Tech return man Chick Granning despite a fair catch signal, ending the Tech player’s career. Bryant never suspended Holt, which upset his friend Bobby Dodd for years, supposedly helping convince Dodd to leave the SEC. The Atlanta media, by far the South’s most powerful, sided with Dodd all the way. To this day, you can find Alabama fans who’ll blame Bisher for any evidence of anti-Bama bias in Atlanta.
The Post, one of America’s oldest periodicals, was destroyed by the Bryant crusade, but Bisher went on to join Lewis Grizzard, Larry Munson and Ernie Johnson among the region’s most beloved sports voices. Bryant’s legacy completely recovered, but that’s the reason why Alabamans (and many UGA fans, while we’re at it) will pour out a measure less goodwill for Bisher than other Southerners will.
5150 UOAD
March 19th, 2012
11:37 pm
JOEL I can use it but I don’t see where FURMAN caused SEP to fail. I don’t see where Mr. Bisher wrote anything libeling DRUNK BEAR and Butts either.
Joel Short
March 19th, 2012
11:41 pm
“I don’t see where Mr. Bisher wrote anything libeling DRUNK BEAR and Butts either.”
Ohh…well your true colors (black and gold) have finally shown themselves…and as for your remark, you’re obviously not looking hard enough.
And I never said he wrote the SEP article, though he WAS it’s primary source, and thus was in a position to know this was a false story. He ran with it anyway, while taking the money. If he had done that in the Internet Age, he would have lost his job. You know it, and I know it.
Joel Short
March 19th, 2012
11:43 pm
And even a drunk bear can kick a Yellow Jacket’s butt.
Joel Short
March 19th, 2012
11:43 pm
Oh, and notice how I post with my real first and last name?
Yep, I’ve got something else you don’t have. Balls.
5150 UOAD
March 19th, 2012
11:51 pm
Hahahaha. I never hid who I am a fan of. Just another crying classless Bama fan. You cheer for a dirty program so enjoy that. I am sure not as many people that think highly of Mr. Bisher will feel that way about you but it is OK. You and your friends and love ones but Bear probably isn’t in heaven either. Paul played Dirty and cheated enough so maybe this one time he didn’t do it.
Ole Smoky
March 19th, 2012
11:57 pm
Might be one of your best efforts..Great stuff….
UGABugKiller
March 20th, 2012
12:40 am
Hey, 5150 UOAD…
… don’t get into it with an ignorant, classless, uneducated Bama Updyke like Joel Short.
Don’t waste your breath on someone of such low intelligence and complete and utter lack of perspective.
These Bama Updykes like Joel Short, they could never accomplish in 100 lifetimes what Mr. Bisher accomplished in ONE.
No perspective. Pitiful lives in which football is their only respite from their miserable existence.
Such is the ennui of dullard, myopic Bama Updykes like Joel Short.
When you lack perspective the way these wretched people do, you lack in basic human decency.
Pity the Bama Updykes, 5150… but don’t waste your time in trying to educate them to the facts of history… they only believe in the Gospel of Bear.
They’re fanatics, and much as a jihadist, they cannot be reasoned with, because a Bama Updyke has NO reason.
UGABugKiller
March 20th, 2012
1:24 am
Bama Updykes…
… Furman Bisher did not write the Butts-Bear story. He did some interviews for the story and handed them over to the man who wrote it.
What Bisher DID do was expose Bear’s newfound sense of barbarism and “win at all costs” teaching mentality earlier that year.
And because of that, Bear hated Bisher. Hated Furman for exposing him for the depths he was willing to sink in order to win football games, and as we know of your Sainted Bear, Bama Updyke, the last man to integrate his college football team, he was willing to sink LOW.
You lack perspective. You lack class. You lack basic human decency. And you lack all logic and the ability to reason.
You, Joel Short, are a Bama Updyke. I wish I could say you represented a small minority of Bama fans, but that is unfortunately not the case.
There is no more myopic group of people on the face of this planet, not Islamic jihadists, not abortion clinic bombers, not Tim Tebow Fans, not Red Sox Nation, not Suckeye fans, not Gaturds, not European Soccer Hooligans, not even DogKilla sycophants… NO group of people on this earth have a complete lack of perspective that the vast majority of Alabama Crimson Tide football fans do.
That is why I call you the Bama Updykes, after your unofficial mascot. Roll damn tide, indeed.
P. Bull Terrier
March 20th, 2012
2:18 am
I suppose it’s a sign that you’re growing up (getting old) when all of your favorite journalists and announcers (Bisher, Outlar, Grizzard, Caray, Johnson, Munson) have moved on to a better place and you still think of Jeff Schultz as the “new guy” at the AJC.
P. Bull Terrier
March 20th, 2012
2:43 am
I don’t think I have ever had a reason to side with 5150UOAD about anything, but the passing of Furman Bisher and the arrival of “Joel Short” has given me one.
The line, “To sum up, I’ve been waiting a LONG time to give this short paragraph rant — but the sorry SOB wouldn’t die” demonstrates what an ignorant, nasty hateful, and bitter person Joel Short must be.
Mr. Short, now that you have finally had your long awaited moment in the sun, please crawl back into your hole and stay there.
Selah.
Ron C Clair
March 20th, 2012
7:40 am
Knew a guy who told me a story about Furman Bisher – TC Chen who double hit a chip at Oakland Hills CC also made the first double eagle in the history of the US Open on the Thursday of the tournament (the US Open) at Oakland Hills…my friend who happened to be President of the club was on the course Saturday gallerying the Open out of a golf cart with the president of the USGA..he told me he got beeped and went to the clubhouse and damned if it was Bisher who wanted to know what Oakland Hills was going to do to commemorate TC Chen’s double eagle…my friend was so anygry that he was called off the golf course for this question said, “we’re gonna put a rice paddy out there” Chen was an Oriental, of course…then my friend took Bisher to task for calling him in…I was told this story as the truth and perhaps it is, however it’s a helluva story whether it’s true or not
Bill Sirkin
March 20th, 2012
7:52 am
Great tribute to a legend