Kurt Gowdy Dies

Curt Gowdy, famed sportscaster and 2003 inductee of the The International Game Fish Association (IGFA) Fishing Hall of Fame, died early Monday morning at his home in Florida. “As host and producer of the long-running The American Sportsman television series, ubiquitous with a Stetson hat and casting a dry fly, he garnered a public following that endured for the rest of life; many referring to him as the ‘true American sportsman.’” From Tennesee’s Chattanoogan.com.
In the Houston Chronicle, Dave Strege remarks on Gowdy’s fly fishing roots and love of fishing salt water. “Gowdy got into saltwater fly-fishing when he started broadcasting New York Yankees games alongside Mel Allen in 1949. Spring training was in St. Peterburg, Fla., near the prolific saltwater fisheries.” Gowdy went on to become a fishing companion of Ted Williams.