"My father was one of the finest sportswriters of his generation. But his legacy is more complicated than that."

October 27, 2007 7:20 PM

Forgive Some Sinner. "With age 70 bearing down hard upon him, Dad had by then written for better than 40 years, during which he had become celebrated, later disgraced, and I would like to think ultimately redeemed... Good as some of his old stories are, it always seemed to me that his own was better than any of them; I only wish he had written it himself." Mark Kram Jr. examines his late father's complicated legacy.
posted by amyms (9 comments total)

Liked that alot.
posted by Spacelegoman at 10:53 PM on October 27, 2007

This is something I would not have read but for this post. It is something I am very glad I read. A good article about an interesting man. Thank you.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 11:09 PM on October 27, 2007

The picture of Kram in the convertible shows him pointing to a hard cover copy of the Tumult and the Shouting, the great sports writing book by Grantland Rice. Those great writers told stories that could never be told in our corporate human interest stories of sports stories--real stories about real people, not images propped up to sell.
posted by Ironmouth at 11:34 PM on October 27, 2007

Those great writers told stories that could never be told in our corporate human interest stories

It's interesting that, isn't it. I've got no interest in sports whatsoever, but some of those old sports writers make the subject and the people come so alive that its hard not to be entranced when you find a good one.

Mind you, I'm not sure that there isn't a selection process going on here. It's only the very best of those old stories that stay with us. It may well be that there was just as much dross then as there is now, but nobody bothers to save that stuff.

I've just finished reading a wonderful book about the golden age of pool -- Hustler Days: Minnesota Fats, Wimpy Lassiter, Jersey Red and America's Great Age of Pool. And while the book is a fine piece of work in its own right, while reading it, it was hard not to be struck by just how dependent the author was on the fantastic reporting of the subject that he was relying on to build his story.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 12:28 AM on October 28, 2007

Great piece, thanks for the link. I echo the 'would not have seen this otherwise,' position.
posted by mwhybark at 9:41 AM on October 28, 2007

A sad and hopeful piece, perfect for reading as I wake up this Sunday afternoon. Thanks for posting it.
posted by jtron at 11:46 AM on October 28, 2007

Ditto to what Johnny Gunn said.
posted by nevafeva at 8:21 PM on October 28, 2007

Thanks, this was a great article.
posted by ikkyu2 at 12:56 PM on October 29, 2007

I'm glad people liked it. I enjoyed sharing it. I'm not a big sports fan, and I know almost nothing about boxing, but I stumbled across the article while reading something else on The Smart Set site. I thought it was very well-written and poignant.
posted by amyms at 8:15 PM on October 29, 2007