Jenkins covered the Masters more than 60 times and attended over 200 major championships in totalGETTY IMAGES
Legendary sportswriter DAN JENKINS died Thursday night at 89, after his health had "taken a turn for the worse" over the previous three days, according to Mac Engel of the Ft. Worth STAR-TELEGRAM. In recent years, Jenkins became TCU’s "unofficial historian, and was a regular at home football games." In March '17, the school "named the press box at Amon G. Carter Stadium after him." Although he covered every sport, Jenkins was "known for his relationship and affinity for golf; his Twitter account was a must read during the sport’s majors." He "never lost his biting, yet subtle, wit." Jenkins’ writing career "spanned more than six decades, and his legacy is secure next to the likes of GRANTLAND RICE, RED SMITH and JIM MURRAY." Jenkins, father of the Washington Post's SALLY JENKINS, was "one of the most successful and influential writers at Sports Illustrated when the magazine was the most important publication in the American sports world." He also "wrote columns for Playboy magazine, and Golf Digest," and wrote more than 20 books (Ft. Worth STAR-TELEGRAM, 3/8). In Dallas, Michael Granberry noted Jenkins wrote "SEMI-TOUGH," which "became a Hollywood movie starring BURT REYNOLDS and JILL CLAYBURGH." Some critics "called it one of the funniest books ever written" (DALLASNEWS.com, 3/8).
REMEMBERING A LEGEND: SI.com's Emily Caron notes Jenkins "won countless awards, including the Red Smith Award, the PEN/ESPN Lifetime Achievement Award for Literary Sports Writing and the Lifetime Achievement Award in Sports Journalism from the PGA of America." Jenkins is also a member of the Texas Sports HOF, the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters HOF and is "one of three writers to have been inducted" into the World Golf HOF (SI.com, 3/8). Golf Channel's Matt Ginella: "We are talking about one of the members of the Mount Rushmore of sports writers, forget just golf writers." Golf Channel's Jaime Diaz: "What he did so well was he combined knowledge, judgment and conviction with this genius humor, and it was this new mix that no one had seen before." Golf Channel’s Ron Sirak said, “He wrote stories from the inside out, not the outside in and when you were around him as a person, that's who he was. There was a natural wit to him and there was no off switch with Dan” (“Morning Drive,” Golf Channel, 3/8).
RUDE BEHAVIOR: In Jacksonville, Garry Smits writes Jenkins was a "proud Texan, abhorred political correctness, stuffy country-club types and editors who butchered his prose." Jenkins covered the Masters "more than 60 times and attended more than 200 major championships." Along the way, he "skewered everyone who he believed deserved it" (JACKSONVILLE.com, 3/8). YAHOO SPORTS' Jack Baer writes, "Few, if any, writers have ever possessed sheer talent and wit like Jenkins, and it showed as sports writers from around the industry remembered his legacy" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 3/8).
TWITTER TRIBUTES: Twitter was filled with remembrances and tributes. SI's Alan Shipnuck noted Jenkins was one of the "all-time great sportswriters and a huge influence on all of us." He always had a "twinkle in his eye and a barb on his lips." ESPN's Kevin Van Valkenburg wrote Jenkins "influenced golf writing more than just about anyone." Golf TV's Stina Sternberg: "Dan Jenkins taught a master class every time he put pen to paper." Global Golf Post's Ron Green Jr.: "Dan Jenkins was our Arnold Palmer with a wit as strong as Arnie’s forearms." SI's Mark McClusky: "Dan Jenkins basically invented sportswriting as we know it today." Golf broadcaster Brian Hammons: "If you’ve never read one of his books, pick one up. You’ll be glad you did." Yahoo's Jay Busbee: "Dan Jenkins was an artist wielding a chainsaw, a guy who knew the bone-deep absurdities of our two most ridiculous sports - golf and college football - and loved them both anyway." AP's Doug Ferguson: "Massive loss of His Ownself, Dan Jenkins. 'I never wrote a line I didn't believe,' is one thing he said that stays with me." Golf writer Jeff Rude wrote Jenkins was "the king of golf writing."
