Dan Jenkins
TCU announced May 23 that the press box in Amon G. Carter Stadium will be named in honor of author and sportswriter Dan Jenkins.
The Dan Jenkins Press Box will be dedicated Tuesday, May 30, at 10:30 a.m.
A 1953 graduate of Texas Christian University, Jenkins has shined a spotlight on his alma mater and Fort Worth through his writings.
“Dan Jenkins is a TCU treasure,” said Chris Del Conte, TCU director of intercollegiate athletics. “With press boxes being a second home to Dan throughout his incredible career, we’re proud to pay tribute to him in this manner.
“Dan is revered in the media world and especially by his fellow sportswriters. When the media are covering a TCU home football game, we know they will be excited to be working in the Dan Jenkins Press Box.”
Jenkins is a member of five Halls of Fame: World Golf Hall of Fame, Texas Sports Hall of Fame, National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame, the Texas Golf Hall of Fame and the TCU Lettermen’s Association Hall of Fame.
Jenkins’ highest honors in his profession include the Red Smith Award, the Ring Lardner Award, the PEN/ESPN Award, the lifetime achievement award in journalism from the PGA of America, and he is the first writer to receive the Old Tom Morris Award from the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America.
At his alma mater, Jenkins received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 1996 and the Frog O’Fame Award in 1971. In 1985, his family established the Dan Jenkins Sportswriting Scholarship. He also supported the John Justin Athletics Center, among other projects.
Jenkins covered many of the greatest games and personalities in college football history and served as the official historian for the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame and received their Amateur Football Award.
His sportswriting career spans 70 years during which he wrote for the Fort Worth Press, Dallas Times Herald, Sports Illustrated and Golf Digest. He has also written 23 books. Three of his best-selling novels – Semi-Tough, Dead Solid Perfect and Baja Oklahoma – were made into movies. At the Fort Worth Press, Jenkins worked alongside some of the best sportswriters – and writers – in the state: Blackie Sherrod, Bud Shrake and Gary Cartwright.
Jenkins was a three-year TCU golf letterman and captain (1950-52). Throughout his writing career, Jenkins has covered a record 230 major championships including 67 Masters in a row, his first in 1951 for the Fort Worth Press when Ben Hogan won his first green jacket. Jenkins remains active as a senior writer for Golf Digest. In March, the University of Texas announced that it would establish the Dan Jenkins Medal for Excellence in Sportswriting.
For a review of Jenkins’ latest book:
http://www.fortworthbusiness.com/opinion/richard-connor-dan-jenkins-new-book-serves-up-laughs-and/article_0a7b7718-3cb6-11e7-9135-d3b2b9596010.html
For a longer profile of Jenkins:
http://www.fortworthbusiness.com/news/still-semi-tough-jenkins-takes-the-world-on-a-journey/article_3e51c4a9-b366-5546-9619-9465ba042a48.html