Shirley Povich

Shirley Povich
Povich as master of ceremonies at Cooperstown, 1955.
Born	(1905-07-15)July 15, 1905 Eden, Maine, United States
Died	June 4, 1998(1998-06-04) (aged 92) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Occupation	Journalist, sports reporter, columnist
Spouse(s)	Ethyl Povich (m.1932–1998; his death)
Children	David Povich, Maury Povich, Lynn Povich

Shirley Lewis Povich (July 15, 1905 – June 4, 1998) was an American sports columnist and reporter for The Washington Post.

Povich's parents were Jewish immigrants from Lithuania. Having grown up in coastal Bar Harbor, Maine (then known as Eden), far from a major league team, the first baseball game he ever saw was a game for which he wrote the game story.

Povich joined the Post as a reporter in 1923 during his second year as a Georgetown University law student, and in 1925 was named Editor of Sports. In 1933, he became a sports columnist, a responsibility that continued until his death, with only one interruption. In 1944, Povich took on the assignment of war correspondent for The Washington Post in the Pacific Theater. Following World War II, he returned to his sports desk. He was the sports editor for the Post for forty-one years. President Richard Nixon once told Post publisher Phil Graham: "Shirley Povich is the only reason I read your newspaper."

He celebrated his retirement in 1973, but continued to write more than 500 pieces and cover the World Series for the Post. He would write about both the modern game and memories of years past. At the time of his death, he was one of few working writers who had covered Babe Ruth. His final column was in the Post the day after his death at age 92.

Povich served as a contributor to the Ken Burns series Baseball that first appeared on PBS in 1994 by sharing memorable baseball events.

Povich is the author of The Washington Senators (G.P. Putnam Sons, 1954) and All These Mornings (Prentice-Hall, 1969). A collection of his columns, All Those Mornings...At the Post was published in April, 2005 (PublicAffairs).