All Those Mornings . At The Post (Inscribed Copy by 3 Co-Editors including Maury Povich)

Shirley Povich was the Dean of American sportswriters. As a columnist for The Washington Post for more than seventyfive years, he was an eyewitness to the most thrilling moments in American sports, including: the legendary 1927 Dempsy-Tunney "long count"; the celebrated 1938 race between Seabiscuit and War Admiral; the 1946 signing of Jackie Robinson by the Brooklyn Dodgers; Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series; the Ali-Frazier fight of 1971; and the murder of eleven Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

But Povich's columns were about more than sports; they reflected the dramatic changes in American society over the course of the 20th Century. Driven by a strong sense of social justice, Povich called for the integration of major league baseball in 1939, and twenty years later he was still at it, attacking Washington Redskins owner George Preston Marshall for having an all-white team.

For the 100th anniversary of his birth, Povich's children— David, Maury, and Lynn — and his colleague at the Post, former sports editor George Solomon, have pulled together this panoramic collection of Povich's most beloved columns. The result is a front-row seat to the most awe-inspiring sports moments of our American Century.

Shirley Povich grew up in an Orthodox Jewish family in Bar Harbor, Maine. As a teenager, he caddied for Edward B. McLean, owner of The Washington Post, who offered him a job. Povich wrote his first sports story for the Post in 1924. He was president of the Baseball Writers of America — he held No.1 on its membership card — and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He wrote his final column for the Post on June 3, 1998, the day before he died.