[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 163 (Wednesday, November 4, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H12339-H12340]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             HONORING THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF FURMAN BISHER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GINGREY of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the 
accomplishments of famed Atlanta sports reporter Furman Bisher upon his 
retirement from the Atlanta Journal Constitution after 59 years.
  Furman Bisher was born on November 4, 1918, in Denton, North 
Carolina, and became the editor of the Charlotte News in 1940. During 
World War II, he honorably serve our Nation from 1941 until 1945.
  In 1950, Furman Bisher became a sports editor for the Atlanta 
Constitution, and in 1957 he became sports editor and columnist for the 
Atlanta Journal and the Sunday Journal-Constitution.
  Furman Bisher's accomplishments are legendary. He was the president 
of the Football Writers Association of America in 1959 and 1960 and 
named one of the Nation's five best columnists by Time Magazine in 
1961. Furman was president of the National Sportscasters and Sports 
Writers Association from 1974 to 1976, and he covered every Kentucky 
Derby since 1950. He also covered every National Football League Super 
Bowl, except the very first one played in 1967.
  As an Atlanta Braves fan, I am particularly grateful for the crucial 
role Furman played in facilitating the arrival of the Braves baseball 
team to Atlanta, which was Atlanta's very first professional sports 
team.
  Furman Bisher is a member of the Atlanta Sports Hall of Fame, the 
International Golf Writers Hall of Fame and the National Sportscasters 
and Sports Writers Hall of Fame, and he was a recipient of Professional 
Golfers Association's Lifetime Achievement in Journalism Award in 1996.
  A testament to Furman's reputation from the very beginning can be 
traced to 1949, when he became the only person since 1919 to secure an 
interview with ``Shoeless'' Joe Jackson, who had been banned from 
baseball.
  Furman Bisher retired from the Atlanta Journal Constitution on 
October 10, 2009, after 59 years of service, typing his last column on 
the Royal typewriter that was the instrument of his first Constitution 
column back in 1950.
  At age 90, Furman is still going strong, splitting his time between a 
homestead in Fayette County and a retreat on St. Simons Island with his 
wife of 21 years, Linda.
  Furman Bisher's legacy is lasting. He wrote over 10,000 columns in 
the Atlanta Journal Constitution and hundreds more in newspapers in 
North Carolina dating back to 1938.

[[Page H12340]]

  He forever impacted sports reporting and the Atlanta sports landscape 
with his actions and commentary. I know I, for one, like millions of 
others throughout the years, always enjoyed reading his column, and 
will deeply miss flipping to the sports section to find what he had to 
say about the sports news of the day, for it was in 1960 as a freshman 
at Georgia Tech that I first read his column and every Sunday morning 
watched his college football roundup in the TV lab at the Sigma Nu 
fraternity house.
  I wish Furman and Linda Bisher all the best as they enjoy their 
retirement.

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