Jim Murray - (1919-1998)
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San Pedro High School in San Pedro, California
I. Biography
On December 29th, 1919 a late Christmas present was born to the world in Hartford, Connecticut. James Patrick Murray would grow up to be one of the greatest sportswriters of all time.
After his parents got divorced, when Murray was quite young, he was raised by his grandparents. His father was a druggist during Prohibition and had been caught selling liquor without a prescription and eventually lost his stores. Despite growing up with his grandparents, he had a happy childhood. He was spoiled by his grandmother and later by his aunts and uncles. His uncles and his father would take him to fights and ball games. He said he learned his math by computing earned-run averages, batting averages, and league standings.
His happiest memories came from the times he lived alongside the railroad tracks. Although noisy at night, the trains brought the sound of a loud whistle on a summer night, which would get Jim dreaming of faraway places that he wanted to see and visit. Another fond memory involves his first visit to Yankee Stadium. It was a doubleheader between his two favorite players, Babe Ruth of the Yankees and Jimmie Foxx of the Philadelphia Athletics. In the third inning, The Babe walked up to the plate and slugged a home run. Murray feared it wouldn't be scored as an official home run because rain was coming down in steady streams, but the two teams played 18 innings in heavy rain and the home run held up.
In 1944 Jim moved to Hollywood. He soon won over the people of the Los Angeles area with his great writing for Time magazine. This newly found fame earned him the honor of taking Marilyn Monroe to dinner. When Marilyn asked him, "Do you mind if you don't take me home but I go home with a friend of mine?" Murray calmly replied, "Only if you introduce me to Joe DiMaggio first!" He soon became one of Humphrey Bogart's drinking buddies. He even played cards with the Duke himself, John Wayne.
On October 20th , 1945 Murray married Geraldine Norma Brown, who would be his wife for the next 39 years. They had four children together, Theodore, Anthony, Pamela, and Eric.
In 1979, Murray was dealt a hard blow that might have put an end to anyone else's writing career. A detached retina left him nearly blind in his left eye and a cataract in his right eye. An unsuccessful surgery on his eye left him legally blind that same year. He now had to use a companion to describe to him what was going on in the world of sports, but he still continued to write. In 1982 a surgery partially restored sight to his right eye which allowed him to see and observe sports again.
Later that year tragedy struck again. His youngest son, Eric, whom they called Ricky, died of a drug overdose. Murray blamed himself in part for the death of his son. Just two years later, he lost his long-time wife, Gerry, to cancer. Through it all he continued to write sports columns and continued to be the best at what he did. Murray would not be alone forever though. In 1996, he married his second wife, Linda McCoy, but they would spend only two years together. On August 16th, 1998 the world lost not only the greatest sportswriter, but also one of the greatest literary writers of all time. Murray died of a cardiac arrest at the age of 78.
II. Education and Professional Life
Murray's education started at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. He earned his Bachelor of Arts there in 1941. His first job with a newspaper came two years later at the New Haven Register . He worked for the Register for only one year. In 1944 he moved to Los Angeles and got a job with the Los Angeles Examiner. After four years he moved on to Hollywood where he became a correspondent for Time magazine. He worked for Time for the next 13 years until 1961. While he was with Time, he helped found Sports Illustrated in 1953. In 1961 his major claim to fame began when he became a writer for the Los Angeles Times. With his graceful and witty style of writing he mesmerized people all over the country. He didn't write about scores and highlights, but the people of sports and the games that they played. He was well-known for either praising or putting down people with his famous one liners.
One of his famous quotes about baseball was, "Willie Mays's glove is where triples go to die." He earned some criticism when he said that the Indianapolis 500 should be started with, "Gentlemen, start your coffins." Sometimes, he even put down whole cities, like when he said, "The trouble with Spokane is that there's nothing to do after ten o'clock in the morning."
He was awarded the National Sportswriter of the Year 4 times; 1964, 1966, 1977 and 1979. He resumed his education and received his Doctor of Literature in 1981. In 1987 he got his Doctor of Laws from Pepperdine University. His great literary skill earned him a spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1988 and the Pulitzer Prize in 1990. He became only the fourth sportswriter in history to win the Pulitzer Prize for sportswriting.
His hometown of Hartford had an effect on him and his quest to become a writer. He quotes, "It's a nice place if you're going to be a literary man, but not so nice if you're going to ship goods." Mark Twain lived in Hartford, where he wrote A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. His Uncle Mike owned a house that Eugene O' Neil formerly owned. O'Neil had written Ah, Wilderness! and Desire Under the Elms in that same house.
Murray said that people always think sportswriters are frustrated athletes who aren't good enough to make it to the big leagues. He did play some baseball, but knew he would never be able to handle the pressure of catching the ball in a big game. He knew he was a choke hitter. Not his bat, but his throat. He did know he was a writer though. When he showed up in Los Angeles in 1944 James H. Richardson, the City Editor, asked Murray, "Do you know where City Hall is?" He said no. Richardson then asked him, "Do you know where the FBI is?" Murray again replied no. He didn't even know where Figueroa Street was located. Richardson asked him hotly, "Well, can you write?" Murray replied, "Oh, Mr. Richardson, I can write like a son of a bitch!"
III. Literary Works
Murray wrote four books throughout his career. They include The Best of Jim Murray in 1965, The Sporting World of Jim Murray in 1968, The Jim Murray Collection in 1988, and Jim Murray: An Autobiography in 1993, which I used for this report.
I had the privilege of reading some of his articles in the Sunday edition of the Los Angeles Times. I, as well as my dad, greatly enjoyed reading his column every Sunday morning. When I didn't read his article or had forgotten to, my dad would always remind me. After we had both read the article we would talk about what he had written and how much we enjoyed the article. We would look forward to next Sunday when we would get the chance to read another article by Jim Murray. He always had a spin on every situation that provoked a good dialogue between my dad and myself. He is greatly missed not only in the sporting and literary worlds but also in the Sullivan household.
IV. Resources
1. Reilly, Rick. Finest Man I Ever Knew. Sports Illustrated, 24 Aug. 1998: 72.
2. Astor, David. Hall of Famer, Pulitzer Winner Jim Murray, 78. Editor and Publisher, 22 Aug. 1998: 19.
3. Sandomir, Richard. "Jim Murray, 78, Sportswriter And Winner of Pulitzer Prize." New York Times 18 Aug. 1998, 8B.
4. Who's Who in the West . New Providence, New Jersey: Marquis, 1998-1999.
5. Murray, Jim. Jim Murray: An Autobiography. New York: MacMillan Publishing Company, 1993.
This essay was submitted by a student of Kathy Honda Stein, a teacher at San Pedro High School in San Pedro, California.