All those mornings-- at the Post

"Shirley Povich was the Dean of American Sportswriters. As a columnist for The Washington Post for more than seventy-five years, Povich was an eyewitness to the most thrilling and tragic moments in sports, including: the legendary 1927 Dempsey-Tunney "long count" fight; the celebrated 1983 Seabiscuit-War Admiral race; the 1946 signing of Jackie Robinson by the Brooklyn Dodgers; Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series; the Ali-Frazier "Rumble in the Jungle" fight in 1971; and the murder of eleven Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.". "Povich was a Washington institution. Every President from Calvin Coolidge to Bill Clinton sat down to breakfast with his column, "This Morning with Shirley Povich." It was his style that readers admired. Povich believed a sportswriter was the dispassionate link between the event and the reader. There was no need to go into the locker room to badger the losing pitcher about the pitch he threw when he gave up the game. Better to paint the picture of that ultimate conflict - batter against pitcher. To many, that is what is lost in today's sports pages. It is recaptured here, in a collection of classic columns.". "But Povich's columns were about more than sports; they reflected the dramatic changes in American society over the course of the twentieth 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 Povich - and his colleague at the Post, former sports editor George Solomon, have pulled together this personal collection and recollection of Povich and his most beloved columns."--BOOK JACKET.