Dan Jenkins: One Of A Kind

Rick Arnett / Mar. 8th, 2019

Jason Wesch/AG Magazine

Dan Jenkins passed away Thursday night at age 89. He was one of my literary heroes taking sometimes sharp and good-natured jabs predominately at the hallowed sports shrines of pro/college football and golf. Jenkins was a giant among many popular writers back in the hey- day of newspaper and magazine journalism.I loved his books Semi-Tough, Dead Solid Perfect and Life Its Ownself.

Dan was fond of cigarettes, a nip or two (but didn’t drink as much as he led on) and could hit a deadline better than anyone. He was proud that he put his kids through college based primarily on his writing prowess (the novels and Fort Worth Press, Dallas Times Herald, Sports Illustrated, Playboy and Golf Digest).

Back in August 2005, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Dan mostly via email (yes, he’d finally but stubbornly accepted the PC–but was never politically correct). We visited his Fort Worth home filled with photographic memories of a rich life and all his media credentials from attending sports’ most revered events.

Jason Wesch/AG Magazine

Below is a quick excerpt of the back and forth email Q&A.

I’ve never had the luxury of writer’s block. I put three kids through private schools in Manhattan and then through college at Stanford, Arizona and TCU. Like the old saying, “The two greatest motivations for a writer are poverty and deadlines.”

Back in the day, I smoked, drank and hung out … a lot. But I never drank while writing and I never drank at home. Home was for root beer floats.

A piece of advice for Tiger Woods: He should someday learn that the print press is not the enemy. In fact, he should learn that we will be around long after he’s gone. But he’s probably too rich to ever care about this, so piss on him.

My all-time Top 5 players in order are: Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Bobby Jones, Byron Nelson and Sam Snead.

Appoint me PGA Tour commissioner for a day and I’d do away with 175 exemptions. Go back to 60. Put fear back in the game. Thin the herd.

My foolproof idea for a winning U.S. Ryder Cup strategy is to tell the players that for every point they lose, they’re barred from the tour for a year.

I wasn’t serious when I once said Tiger Woods would win 24 majors. I think he’s just about to hit the wall on making putts after nine years. He’ll win some more, two or three perhaps. But he’ll never be what he was in 2000. God won’t allow it.

My favorite sporting events to cover are college football and the four majors. It’s dead heat.

If I had Bill Gates’ money, the first thing I’d buy is a new heart.

My dream foursome: Let’s see … Sharon Stone … Nicole Kidman …

RIP Dan Jenkins. You’re the epitome of enjoying and describing Life Its Ownself.