William Eugene Bryson Sr. (March 3, 1915 – January 31, 1986) was an American sportswriter who wrote for ''

The Des Moines Register ''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa, United States. History Early period The first newspaper in Des Moines was the ''Iowa Star''. In July 1849, Barlow Granger began the paper in an abandoned log cab ...

'' from 1937 until his retirement, in 1978. He covered 32 consecutive

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

Career

Bryson began his career as a reporter for the '' Winfield Beacon'', his hometown newspaper. He has been called "one of the finest sportswriters in the country and widely recognized as such". As his son Bill describes in ''

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid ''The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid'' is a 2006 memoir by best-selling travel writer Bill Bryson. The book delves into Bryson's past, telling of his youth growing up in Des Moines, Iowa, during the 1950s and early 1960s. It also reveals th ...

'', due to the quality of Bryson Sr.'s work, one prominent television sports journalist thought of him as being "possibly the greatest baseball writer there ever was".

Personal life and death

Bryson married Mary Agnes McGuire (1913–2015), an editor for ''

''. They had three children:

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

, who also became a sports journalist and wrote the book ''The Babe Didn't Point: And Other Stories About Iowans and Sports''; Bill Jr., a prolific writer of travel books; and Mary Elizabeth. Bryson died of an apparent heart attack on January 31, 1986, at his home in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

. Bill Jr. published a tribute to his father in 2001, describing how Bryson had conducted what was probably the last interview with

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional Baseball in the United States, baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nickna ...

, just a month before the

New York Yankee The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. They are one ...

died, in August 1948. The profile also includes the praise of Bryson noted above by a former

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...

president, who had said he "may have been the best baseball writer ever, anywhere".

References

External links

* 1915 births 1986 deaths 20th-century American non-fiction writers Baseball writers Writers from Des Moines, Iowa Sportswriters from Iowa {{US-journalist-1910s-stub